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CAREEKS  FOR  WOMEN 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/careersforwomenOOfilericli 


CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 


EDITED  BY 

CATHERINE  FILENE 

DIRECTOR  INTERCOLLEGIATE  VOCATIONAL 
GUIDANCE  ASSOCIATION 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

(arte  iaitsri^itie  prejs'^  Cambritise 
1920 


COPYRIGHT,  1930,  BT  CATRXRIME   FILXNX 
ALL  RIGHTS   RKSBRVBO 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSBTTS 
U  .   S  .  A 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

This  compilation  is  the  result  of  the  demand  for  vocational 
information  to  help  the  youth  of  the  country  in  its  choice  of 
a  life  career. 

The  value  of  this  form  of  vocational  guidance  lies  in  its 
power  to  prepare  one  for  the  responsibilities  of  economic  life 
by  making  the  facts  about  the  various  means  of  livelihood 
available.  Greater  knowledge  creates  greater  efl&ciency  and 
human  happiness,  as  it  tends  to  eliminate  the  extra  and  un- 
necessary time  spent  in  discovering  the  best  place  for  one's 
ability.  Lack  of  knowledge  of  the  opportunities  for  work  re- 
sults in  a  waste  of  time  and  energy  which  reacts  on  production 
and  on  society  itself.  Even  though  the  youth  may  never  in- 
tend to  work,  a  knowledge  of  the  opportunities  for  service  is 
of  great  social  value. 

It  is  a  function  of  education  to  contribute  to  human  effi- 
ciency in  economic  production  and  this  is  being  accomplished 
largely  through  broad  vocational  education.  Modern  edu- 
cators realize  the  need  for  vocational  education,  and  the  result 
is  that  vocational  guidance  and  vocational  training  are  being 
introduced  into  all  branches  of  school  life.  Grade  schools, 
high  schools,  and  colleges  are  appointing  vocational  advisors 
as  members  of  their  staffs,  whose  duties  involve  counseling 
with  individuals  to  help  them  discover  their  potentialities 
and  influence  them  to  continue  their  schooling  when  necessary 
so  that  they  may  become  better  fitted  for  work.  The  large 
numbers  withdrawing  before  they  reach  the  secondary  schools 
do  so  because  of  lack  of  interest  rather  than  economic  pres- 
sure. This  throws  the  responsibility  on  those  who  create 
school  curricula.  Our  school  programme  should  be  fitted  to  the 
needs  of  the  community.  With  vocational  advisors  in  schools 
such  facts  as  are  contained  in  this  book  will  be  common  knowl- 

^51373 


vi  PREFATORY  NOTE 

edge,  and  the  result  will  be  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
"square  pegs  for  round  holes"  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
vocational  information  and  training  made  available. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  book  will  be  of  value  to  high-school  and 
college  women,  and  if  it  is  of  service  in  any  of  the  ways  sug- 
gested above,  its  justification  is  assured.  It  does  not  attempt 
completeness  but  it  is  hoped  that  the  material  contained  in 
these  pages  will  be  of  help  and  encouragement  to  those  who 
are  uncertain  both  about  the  work  they  want  to  do  and  the 
preparation  which  will  have  the  most  direct  bearing  on  the 
career  they  choose;  to  those  who  wish  to  be  informed  as  to 
what  is  being  accomplished  by  women;  to  classes  in  schools 
and  colleges  devoted  to  the  study  of  occupations.  The  num- 
ber of  these  classes  is  rapidly  increasing  and  their  value  cannot 
be  overestimated. 

The  articles  contained  herein  were  written  expressly  for 
this  book  and  have  not  appyeared  elsewhere.  I  have  compiled 
them  while  Director  of  the  Intercollegiate  Vocational  Guid- 
ance Association.  This  organization  had  its  inception  at 
Wheaton  College,  Norton,  Massachusetts,  in  1917,  at  which 
time  the  undergraduates  invited  delegates  from  other  colleges 
to  meet  with  them  to  discuss  what  was  being  done  to  acquaint 
students  with  the  opportunities  for  work  open  to  them  after 
graduation.  The  meeting  proved  so  helpful  that  the  group 
decided  to  meet  again  the  next  year  to  report  on  developments 
stimulated  by  the  first  conference.  The  Third  Intercollegiate 
Conference  on  Vocations  for  Women  was  held  at  Radcliffe 
College,  in  1919,  and  in  1920  the  Fourth  Conference  was  held 
at  Cornell  University.  The  Fifth  Conference  is  to  be  held  at 
the  University  of  Pittsburgh  in  the  fall  of  1920.  The  mem- 
bership at  present  includes  fifty  women's  colleges  and  uni- 
versities located  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  purpose 
of  this  Association  is  to  stimulate  interest  in  vocational  guid- 
ance; facilitate  the  interchange  of  vocational  information; 
promote  the  organization  of  undergraduate  committees  for 
the  study  of  vocational  opportunities  for  college  women,  and 


PREFATORY  NOTE  vii 

to  further  the  cooperation  between  appointment  bureaus  and 
students. 

This  is  accomplished  by  holding  annual  conferences  to 
which  members  send  delegates  to  discuss  progress  and  pro- 
grammes and  to  hear  prominent  speakers  on  practical  and 
theoretical  vocational  topics.  In  addition  to  this,  sectional 
conferences  are  held  and  interest  is  stimulated  for  conferences 
at  each  college  for  the  benefit  of  its  students.  The  Associa- 
tion also  maintains  a  clearing-house  for  vocational  informa- 
tion and  assists  in  planning  conferences. 

Sincere  thanks  are  due  to  all  those  who  have  contributed  to 
this  volume  and  whose  interest  and  cooperation  have  made 
this  collection,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  this  country,  possible. 
Greatest  appreciation  for  their  faith  and  helpfulness  in  this 
work  is  due  to  my  mother  and  father,  Mrs.  and  Mr.  A.  Lin- 
coln Filene.  The  active  interest  of  my  father  in  educational 
progress  and  his  appreciation  of  the  social  significance  of 
vocational  education  have  been  an  invaluable  background 
for  me. 

Acknowledgment,  also,  should  be  made  to  Dr.  John  M. 
Brewer,  of  Harvard  University;  Mr.  Meyer  Bloomfield;  Mrs. 
Ethel  M.  Baker,  and  to  the  following  organizations.  The 
Bureau  of  Vocational  Information,  The  Woman*s  National 
Farm  and  Garden  Association,  New  York  State  Agricultural 
College,  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  The  National 
Social  Workers*  Exchange,  for  their  assistance  and  encour- 
agement. 

Catherine  Filene 

September,  1920 


CONTENTS 

ACCOUNTING 

Public  Accountant,  The             Lena  E.  Mendelsohn^  C.P.A.  I 

ADVERTISING 

Advertising,  A  Career  for  Women        Dorothy  R.  Entwwtle  7 
Advertising  Agency  Service,  Women  in 

Laurice  T.  M or  eland  12 

Bank  Publicity  Agent,  The                          Edith  S.  Manson  14 

Publicity  Specialist,  The                      Mary  Swain  Routzahn  16 
Social  Service  Publicity  Councilor,  The 

Mary  Caroline  Crawford  22 

AGRICULTURE  —  ANIMAL  INDUSTRY  —  HORTICULTURE 

Beekeeper,  The                                        Letitia  E.  Wright,  Jr.  24 

Dairy  Worker,  The                                      Harriet  F.  Hilliker  27 

Dog-Raiser,  The                                                 Claudia  Phelps  29 

Dru(>-'Grower,  The                                              Mary  E.  Buck  S3 

•Landscape  Gardener,  The                  Mrs.  Louie  T.  Vignoles  84 

Poultry-Keeper,  The                                         Marion  Pulley  37 

Stock-Raiser,  The                           Mrs.  Eduxird  Parker  Davis  42 

Supervisor  of  Home  Gardens,  The                Breta  W.  Childs  43 
Suggestive  List  of  Vocations  for  which  Women  may  be 

alfl&quately  trained  at  an  agricultural  college'  45 

ARCHITECTURE 

Architect,  The                                                     Lois  L.  Howe  47 

.  Landscape  Architect,  The                  Anna  Biddle  Frishmuth  50 

LandscaiIs  Architect,  The                              Elizabeth  Pattee  52 

ARtS  AND  CRAFTS 

Designing,  A  Vocation  for  College  Women 

Florence  McGowan  57 

Direct  Color  Photographer,  The               Henrietta  Hudson  60 

^-arden  Photographer,  The                       Jessie  Tarbox  Seals  63 

TERiOR  Decorator,  The                              Ella  M.  Flanders  66 


X  CONTENTS 

Jeweler,  The  Margaret  Rogers  68 

Miniature-Painter,  The  Amy  Otis  C9 

Photographer,  The  Mary  L.  Patten  72 

.  Sculptor,  The  Edna  Isbester  Spencer  75 

'  Stage  Designer,  The  Lucy  Conanl  78 

Wood-Carver,  The  Carrie  L.  Morse  81 

BUSINESS 

Book-Publishing  House,  Opportunities  for  Women  in  a 

M.  Irene  Salmon    82 
Camp-Director,  The  Mrs.  Luther  H,  Gulick    85 

Department  Store  Occupations  for  Women 

Josephine  D.  Sutton    87 
Detective,  The  Georgia  L.  Oakes    96 

Director  of  a  Clothing  Center,  The 

{See  Home  Economics  Services) 
Foreign  Resident  Representative,  The    Faith  Chipperfield    98 
Life-Insurance  Agent,  The  {See  Insurance) 
Professional  Shopper,  The  Ruth  Leigh  103 

Style  Expert,  The  Charlotte  C.  Sweeney  105 

Women  in  Railroad  Service  Pauline  Goldmark  107 

DRAMATICS 

•  Dramatic  Critic,  The  {See  Newspaper  Work) 

•Pageant  Director,  The  Hazel  MacKaye  \\\ 

♦  Playwright,  The  Rachel  Cr others  115 
•Professional  Story-Teller,  The         Anna  Curtis  Chandler  116 

EDUCATION 
»  Elementary-School  Teacher,  The  Lulu  M.  Stedman  119 

•Kindergartner,  The  Gertrude  L.  Coursen  121 

,  Teacher  of  the  Blind,  The  Eleanor  E,  Kelley  126 

•Teacher  of  Mental  Defectives,  The  {See  Social  Work) 
^Vocational  Advisor  in  Colleges,  The 

{See  Vocational  Guidance) 
..Vocational  Advisor  in  Public  Schools,  The 

{See  Vocational  Guidance) 
•Vocational-School  Teacher,  The  Cora  J.  Zinkgraf  129 

(Administrators) 
.Dean  of  Women,  The  Eleanor  L.  Lord  134 

^High-School  Principal,  The  Ethel  P.  Andrus  138 


CONTENTS  xi 

Private-School  Principal,  The       Elizabeth  Forrest  Johnson  141 
.  Registrar,  The  Sarah  Belle  Young  145 

.School  Superintendent,  The  Mary  C.  Mellyn  148 

EMPLOYMENT 

(See  Personnel  Work) 

FINANCE 

Bond  Saleswoman,  The  Clara  Porter  152 

Financial  Advisor,  The  Florence  A.  Warner  154     ^ 
Secijrity  Saleswoman,  The  Loa  E.  Scott  155 

GOVERNMENT  SERVICE 
Women  in  Government  Service  Mary  N.  Winslow  158 

HEALTH  SERVICES 
/Baby  Hygiene  Worker,  The  Anna  M.  Russ  16S 

'Child  Hygiene  Worker,  The 

S.  Josephine  Baker.  M.D.,  D.P.H.  166 

.Dermatologist,  The  Anna  Walker  Wakefield  169 

•District  Nurse,  The  Mary  Beard,  R.N.  171 

Occupational  Therapist,  The  Marjorie  B.  Greene  178 

Optometrist,  The  M.  Doris  Sweeiland  180 

Osteopath,  The  Dr.  Edith  Stobo  Cave  184 

Private  Nurse,  The  Sara  E.  Parsons  187 

t  Public  Health  Nurse,  The      Bessie  Amerman  Haasis,  R.N.  190 

.Woman  Dentist,  The  Anne  S.  Worthen,  D.M.D.  196 

,  Woman  Surgeon,  The  Dr.  Ellen  C.  Potter  198  "^ 

.Women  in  Medicine  Elizabeth  A.  Riley y  M.D.  20f2 

HOME  ECONOMICS  SERVICES 

•  Cafeteria  Manager,  The  Helen  E.  Scripture  209 
Canning  and  Preserving  of  Home  Products  Melita  Crawley  214 

•  DiisTiTiAN,  The  Lena  F.  Cooper  217 
Director  of  a  Clothing  Center,  The        Ada  F.  Blanchard  223^   >' 
Extension  Work  xjnder  the  Smith-Lever  Act 

Edith  C.  Salisbury  226' 

Extension  Work  in  Home  Economics  Alice  M.  Blinn  230' 

,  Health  Instructor  IN  Foods,  The  AlziraWentworth  Sandwall  232' 

Home  Demonstration  Agent,  The  Laura  Comstock  235 

.  Preventive  Work  Through  Dietetics  in  Social  Service 

Lucy  H.  Gillett  238 


xa 


CONTENTS 


A 


Restaurant  Manager,  The  Mary  Love  241 

^Tea-Room  Manager,  The  Katharine  A.  Fisher  245 

Textile  Field  as  a  Career  for  Women,  The 

Mary  Schenck  Woolman  247 

Visiting  Housekeeper,  The  Emma  A.  Winslow  251 

INDUSTRIAL  WORK 
Factory  Inspector,  The  Frances  Perkins  255 

Specialist  in  Labor  Legislation,  The  {See  Specialists) 

INSTITUTIONAL  WORK 

Hostess  in  an  Institution  for  Girls,  The 

Mabel  Snow  Worcester  261 

Institution  Manager,  The  Fannie  French  Morse  263 

INSURANCE 
Life-Insurance  Salesman,  The  Corinne  V.  Loomis  270 

LAW 

Coroner,  The  Grace  M.  Norris,  M.D.  273 

'Corporation  Lawyer,  The  Reba  Talbot  Swain,  B.A.,  J.D.  274 

.LegaI.  Editor,  The  Emmu  Eaton  White  276 

•Magistrate,  The  Jean  E.  Norris,  LL.B.,  LL.M.  278 

♦Patent  Lawyer,  The  Florence  King  281 

•Prosecuting  Attorney,  The  Florence  E.  Allen  285 

^,WoMAN  Lawyer,  The  Dorothy  Straus  288 

LIBRARY  WORK 

•  Children's  Librarian,  The  Alice  I,  Hazeltine  293 
*Industrla.l  Librarian,  The  Edith  Phail  298 

•  LiBliARLAN,  The  June  Richardson  Donnelly  302 
,  Medical  Librarian,  The  Grace  W.  Myers  308 

LITERARY  WORK 

•  Book-Reviewer,  The  Helen  Bishop  Dennis  311 
.Editor,  The  Mabel  Rollins  314 
.  FUTURE  Editor,  The  (See  Newspaper  Work) 

.Head  of  the  Educational  Department  of  a  Publishing 

House  Sarah  R.  Marshall  317 

^  Magazine  Editor,  The  Leonarda  Goss  323 

^  Opportunities  for  Women  in  a  Book  Publishing  House 

{See  Business) 


CONTENTS  xiii 

Proof-Reader,  The  Alice  E.  Evans  327 

Reporter,  The  J 

Special  Article  Writer,  The  r  (See  Newspaper  Work) 
Sunday  Editor,  The  / 

.  Translator,  The  Dora  Moldenhatier  330 

MOTION-PICTURE  WORK 
^  Motion-Picture  Director,  The  Ida  May  Park  335 

Title  Editor,  The  Clara  De  Lissa  Berg  337 

MUSEUM  WORK 
Museum  Director,  The  Nma  Stevens  340   "^'L 

MUSIC 

•Composer,  The  Mabel  W.  Daniels  342 

Musical  Manager,  The  Anita  Davis-Chase  344 

•  Opera  Singer,  The  Geraldine  Farrar  345 

NEWSPAPER   WORK 

.  Book-Reviewer,  The  {See  Literary  Work) 

.  Dramatic  Critic,  The  Katharine  Lyons  348 

PbATURE  Editor,  The  Margaret  S.  Gray  351 

Reporter,  The  Katharine  Bartlett  355 

SJ'ecial-Article  Writer,  The  Florence  J.  Cowles  359 

Sunday  Editor,  The  Dorothy  Pratt  362 

PERSONNEL  WORK 

.  Educational  Director  in  Stores,  The     Bemice  M.  Cannon  367 
Employment  Manager,  The  Jane  C.  Williams  373 

Junior  Employment  Agent,  The  Dorothea  de  Schweinitz  375 

Woman  Consultant  in  Labor  Management,  The 

Jean  Hoskins  381 

PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 

Field  of  Physical  Education,  The 

Amy  Morris  Ilomans,  M.A.  386 

•  Physical  Education  in  Private  Schools,  The  Director  of 

Hester  CJiaplin  389 
,  Supervisor  of  Physical  Education  in  Public  Schools,  The 

Ethel  Perrin  392 


POLITICS 

• 


f 


PouTics,  A  Profession  for  Women  Mary  Garrett  Hay  395 


1 


xiv  CONTENTS 

RELIGIOUS  WORK 

General  Secretary  of  a  City  Association 

Irene  Headley  Armes  399 

•  MiesiONARY,  The  Mrs.  Henry  K.  Wingate  401 
•Y.W.C.A.  Worker,  The  AUgaiL  T.  Hawkes  404 

SCIENTIFIC  WORK 
.  Bacteriologist,  The  Marion  Slater  Stone,  Ph.B.  410 

♦  Geologist,  The  Eleanora  F.  Bliss  413 
Medical  Research  Worker,  The  Katherine  R.  Drinker,  M.D.  419 

*  Paper  Chemist,  The  Jessie  E.  Minor  423 
.  Pharmacist,  The  Eleanor  Kerker  427 

•Physicist,  The  Professor  Margaret  E.  Malthy  430 

•  Plant  Pathologist,  The  Flora  W.  Patterson  433 
\- Psychologist,  The                              Helen  T.Woolley,  Ph.D,  439 

SECRETARIAL  WORK 
Executive  Secretary,  The  Isabelle  Simeral  444 

Multigrapher,  The  Mrs.  F.  S.  Root  447 

Private  Secretary,  The  Belle  S.  Roberts  448 

Public  Stenographer,  The  Jessie  M.  Sherwood  4<52 

Shorthand  Reporter,  The  Nellie  Wood  Freeman  465 

SOCIAL  WORK 

' .  Analysis  and  Treatment  of  Behavior  Problems  in  Child- 
ren Jessie  Taft,  Ph.D.  461 
< -C^fp-FiRE  Girl  Leaders  Rowe  Wright  465 
CniEiT  Matron  in  a  Detention  Home  for  Girls 

Mrs.  A.  B.  White  470 

.Clinical  Psychologist,  The  Augusta  F.  Bronner,  Ph.D.  471 

Coi^imunity-Center  Worker,  The 

Grace  Humphrey  and  Cora  McDowell  474 

Family  Social  Work  Helen  P.  Kempton  478 

'*  Qirls'  Club  Worker,  The  ^\  Sarah  B.  Hackett  484 

Girl-Scout  Leaders  Esther  Eaton  486 

•  Hospital  Social  Work  Ida  M.  Cannon  492 
.  Mental-Hygiene  Worker,  The                V.  May  MacDonald  499 

»     Occupational  Therapist,  The  {See  Health  Services) 

•  Policewoman,  The  ^      Mina  C.  Van  Winkle  503 
Probation  Officer,  The  Alfretta  P.  McClure  509 


CONTENTS  XV 

Probation,  Parole,  Protective,  and  Reformative  Work 

Maude  E.  Miner  ^12 

•  Psychiatric  Social  Work  Mary  C.  Jarrett  516 
Reformative  Work  Jessie  D.  Hodder  520 
School  Visitor,  The  Beatrice  C.  Lambrecht  523 
Social  Service                                                  Edith  Shatto  King  529^ 

•  Social  Settlement  Worker,  The  Eva  Whiting  White  532 
Teaching  the  Blind  (See  Education) 

Work  with  Immigrants  in  New  York  State 

Clara  B.  Springsteed  536 
Work  with  the  Mentally  Defective 

Jessie  M.  Ostrander^  M.A.  539 
•  "VYoRKER  with  Girls  who  are  Misfits,  The  Mabelle  B.  Blake  546 

,  SPECIALISTS 

.  Foreign  Trade^Research  Worker.  The  Ellen  B.  Lewis  550' 

Genealogist,  The  Jessie  Fremont  Emery  553 

Specialist  in  Labor  Legislation,  The 

Irene  Sylvester  Chubb  556 

STATISTICAL  WORK 
,    Statistician,  The  -  Lucile  Eaves  560 

VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

Vocational  Advisor  in  Colleges,  The  Catherine  Filene  563 

V  Vocational  Advisor  in  Public  Schools,  The     Jane  L.  Fox  565 

Index  671 


CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

• 

ACCOUNTING 

THE  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTANT 

LENA  MENDELSOHN,  C.P.A. 

Member  American  Institute  of  Accountants 
Member  of  firm  of  L.  E.  Mendelsohn  &  Co.,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

It  is  perfectly  reasonable  to  assume  that  women  will  become 
associated  with  the  practice  of  accountancy  since  they  are 
entering  nearly  every  known  profession.  So  far  as  profes- 
sional recognition  is  concerned,  accountancy  is  still  compara- 
tively young  in  this  country,  but  it  has  already  set  high  stand- 
ards, —  largely  through  the  organized  efforts  of  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Accountants.  The  Institute  welcomes  eligible 
women  as  freely  as  it  does  eligible  men.  So  far,  however,  ojily 
five  women  have  acquired  this  seal  of  professional  approval. 

It  is  hard  to  describe  accountancy  as  an  occupation  be- 
cause the  field  of  activity  is  so  broad  and  the  actual  work 
done  is  so  varied  in  scope,  depending  largely  upon  the  account- 
ant's standing  in  the  profession.  For  the  following  descrip- 
tion, I  am  quoting  Harold  Dudley  Greeley,  C.P.A.,  of  New 
York: 

"Accountancy  is  a  profession  the  members  of  which 
undertake  to  record,  present,  or  verify  all  transactions  con- 
cerning money  values.  The  persons  who  practice  this  pro- 
fession are  known  as  accountants. 

-  "The  work  of  accountancy  falls  into  two  main  divisions. 
First,  there  is  the  reviewing  of  records  of  past  transactions, 
which  includes  audits  to  determine  the  financial  condition  or 
earnings  of  a  business  or  the  fidehty  of  employees,  and  special 


2  CAREERS.  FOR  WOMEN 

investigations  to  determine  any  desired  information  as  to 
financial,  operative,  or  organization  conditions.  Secondly, 
there  is  the  designing  of  records  and  procedures  for  future 
transactions,  which  includes  the  devising  and  installing  of 
systems  to  record  financial  and  operative  facts  and  to  pro- 
mote eflficiency  in  organization,  financing,  and  operation. 

"Just  as  there  are  engineers,  electrical,  mechanical,  civil, 
in  the  private  employ  of  businesses,  so  there  are  accountants 
similarly  in  private  employ.  Such  an  accountant  sometimes 
is  called  a  comptroller,  treasurer,  auditor,  accountant,  vice- 
president.  Just  as  there  are  engineers  in  public  practice  who 
hold  themselves  ready  to  advise  any  person  who  may  seek 
professional  advice,  so  there  are  accountants  similarly  in 
public  practice.  Such  accountants  are  known  as  public  ac- 
countants, or  auditors,  or  expert  accountants,  or  the  like. 

"For  the  protection  of  the  public,  most  of  our  States  pro- 
vide that  if  a  public  accountant  has  certain  educational  quali- 
fications and  will  pass  a  state  examination  as  to  his  profes- 
sional ability,  he  may  designate  himself  as  a  certified  public 
accountant.  By  far  the  greatest  amount  of  public  practice  in 
both  volume  and  importance  is  conducted  by  certified  public 
accountants." 

From  the  foregoing  outline  concerning  the  scope  of  the 
accountant's  work,  it  is  evident  that  an  accounting  organiza- 
tion of  good  standing  must  employ  men  of  first-class  technical 
training  and  business  experience  in  order  that  they  may  be 
able  to  cover  well  this  constantly  broadening  field  of  activity. 
There  is  no  question  that  the  field  is  broadening  and  that 
the  standards  of  efficiency  will  grow  higher  with  passing 
years. 

Considering  everything,  one  need  not  be  surprised  that 
it  has  been  —  and  still  is  —  difficult  for  women  to  become  es- 
tablished in  the  profession.  It  takes  many  years  of  training 
and  experience  for  even  men  to  become  highly  efficient  ac- 
countants, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  have  behind 
them  the  traditions  of  centuries  of  business  training  and  ex- 


THE  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTANT  8 

perience.  Even  with  first-class  technical  school  training,  the 
man  who  wishes  to  get  good  practical  experience  with  a  well- 
organized  accounting  firm  often  serves  a  two-year  apprentice- 
ship as  a  junior  before  he  is  promoted  to  higher  rank.  The 
junior  usually  does  the  mechanical  work  like  verifying  addi- 
tions, checking  postings,  listing  securities,  etc.  So  far,  very 
few  accounting  organizations  employ  women,  even  as  juniors. 
In  rare  cases  it  may  occur  that  an  especially  able  woman,  em- 
ployed in  the  office,  is  sent  out  on  a  case. 

However,  many  large  accounting  firms  do  employ  women  in 
their  offices  for  work  in  connection  with  the  preparation  of 
reports  for  clients.  Able  women  who  aspire  to  become  account- 
ants and  who  are  prepared  to  pay  the  most  careful  attention 
to  details  in  order  that  great  accuracy  may  be  assured,  will 
find  in  this  particular  kind  of  work  an  excellent  starting-point 
in  the  office  of  any  well-organized  accounting  firm.  This  work 
covers  a  very  careful  examination  of  all  typed  reports,  and 
the  comparison  —  word  by  word,  and  figure  by  figure  —  of 
these  typed  reports  with  the  original  reports  as  prepared  by 
the  accountants.  The  work  requires  keen  observation  of  de- 
tails and  close  concentration,  but,  once  mastered,  offers  to 
the  woman  who  is  really  in  earnest  unlimited  opportunity  in 
the  way  of  constructive  information  concerning  various  types 
of  business  organization,  and  knowledge  of  how  to  present 
facts  and  figures  in  logical  and  approved  form. 

Another  opportunity  is  offered  in  Income  Tax  work  which 
women  are  successfully  doing  in  the  offices  of  some  account- 
ants. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  preparation  required  for  the  practice  of  accountancy 

may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

At  least  a  high-school  education  or  its  equivalent.  A  gen- 
eral college  training  will  prove  helpful,  although  it  is  not 
always  essential  to  success.  In  addition  to  the  high-school 
or  college  training,  a  course  of  study  must  be  completed  in 


4  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

a  recognized  school  of  accountancy.  Practical  experience, 
gained  preferably  through  apprenticeship,  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial. 

When  general  college  training  does  precede  that  of  the 
technical  school,  undergraduate  courses  should  include 
enough  mathematics  to  acquire  a  good  working  knowledge 
of  algebra,  economics,  industrial  history  of  the  United  States 
and  of  Europe,  money  and  banking,  and  other  courses  of  like 
nature  are  desirable. 

In  addition  to  all  the  well-known  universities  throughout 
the  country,  nearly  every  one  of  which  has  a  department  of 
commerce  and  business  administration  which  includes  train- 
ing in  accountancy,  there  are  the  various  Y.M.C.A.  schools 
of  commerce. 

Among  private  schools,  I  mention  the  three  endorsed  by  the 
American  Institute  of  Accountants  through  the  official  bulle- 
tin of  the  Committee  on  Education.  These  schools  are : 
Walton  School  of  Commerce. 
Pace  and  Pace. 
Alexander  Hamilton  Institute. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

While  it  is  true  at  present  that  opportunities  for  women  are 
somewhat  restricted  so  far  as  outside  work  is  concerned,  it 
seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  reputable  accountants  that  not 
only  is  there  a  good  field  of  work  for  the  right  type  of  woman, 
in  the  sort  of  office  work  described  under  "Occupation,"  and 
through  which  she  can  in  time  make  herself  a  valuable  mem- 
ber of  the  staff,  but  there  is  also  good  opportunity  for  women 
to  establish  clienteles  of  their  own.  Several  have  already 
done  so  in  New  York  and  other  cities,  and  these  women  are 
doing  well. 

Financial  return 

So  far  as  compensation  is  concerned,  the  minimum  salary 

paid  to  women  in  accountants'  offices  seems  to  be  about  $1200 


THE  PUBLIC  ACCOUNTANT  5 

per  year.  The  maximum  cannot  be  stated  specifically.  In 
New  York  there  are  a  few  women  employed  in  the  offices  of 
large  accounting  firms  who  receive  salaries  of  from  fifty  to 
sixty  dollars  per  week.  In  one  organization  a  woman  has, 
through  remarkable  efficiency,  made  herself  so  valuable  that 
she  holds  a  partnership  interest. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Aside  from  the  fundamental  virtues,  such  as  character  and 
integrity,  and  aside  from  the  personal  attributes,  such  as  tact 
and  adaptability,  all  of  which  are  needed  to  insure  success  in 
any  field  of  activity,  the  most  important  qualifications  may 
be  said,  under  "Natural,"  to  divide  themselves  into  two  divi- 
sions :  mental  and  temperamental. 

Under  "mental"  there  must  be  the  scientific  mind,  i.e. 
orderly,  classifying  (take  nothing  for  granted  type),  yet, 
with  a  touch  of  truly  feminine  intuition  which  enables  her  to 
divine  the  answer. 

Under  "temperamental":  patience,  thoroughness,  self- 
control,  appreciation  of  the  value  of  time,  a  degree  of  philos- 
ophy and  introspection;  quantitative  rather  than  qualitative 
thinking. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Largely  connected  with  outside  work  are  the  opportunities 
that  come  to  the  successful  accountant  to  study  various 
types  of  business  organization  and  to  meet  men  at  the  head 
of  such  organizations.  So  far,  these  opportunities  have  hardly 
been  opened  to  women  accountants. 

However,  it  is  absolutely  true  that  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  bookkeeping  and  accountancy  is  something  that  women 
can  market  immediately  at  a  good  salary. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  disadvantage  of  all  lies  in  the  present 
attitude  of  the  public,  due  to  its  lack  of  confidence  in  woman's 
business  experience  and  judgment,  as  related  to  accountancy 
in  its  broad  sense.  So  far  as  the  work  itself  is  concerned,  one 


6  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

disadvantage  lies  in  the  need  of  frequent  traveling.  In  office 
work,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  long  hours  and  hard  work. 

Suggested  reading 

"Applied  Theory  of  Accounts"  —  Esquerre. 
"Accounting  Theory  and  Practice"  (2  vols.)  —  Kester. 
"Business  Accounting.    Theory  and  Practice  of  Cost  Ac- 
counting." (5  vols.)  —  Edited  by  Harold  Dudley  Greeley, 
"Auditing  Theory  and  Practice"  —  Montgomery. 
"Cost  Accounting"  —  Nicholson-Rohrbach. 
"Corporate  Organization  and  Management"  —  Conyngton. 
"Mathematics  for  the  Accountant"  —  Vinal. 


ADVERTISING 

ADVERTISING,  A  CAREER  FOR  WOMEN 

DOROTHY  R.  ENTWISTLE 

In  charge  of  Women's  Division^  Advertising  Department 
William  Filene's  Sam  Company,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

Advertising  falls  into  two  broad  classes:  national  adver- 
tising, placed  largely  in  the  magazines  and  handled  by  ad- 
vertising agencies;  and  retail  advertising,  placed  for  the  most 
part  in  local  newspapers  and  done  by  an  advertising  manager 
and  staff  who  confine  all  their  advertising  activities  to  the 
retail  establishment  in  question.  The  two  chief  sources  of 
advertising  positions  and  advertising  training,  then,  are  the 
advertising  agency  and  the  retail  or  department  store.  Other 
advertising  fields  are  magazines  and  newspapers.  Adver- 
tising is  creative  work.  Advertising  is  the  newspaper  of  a 
retail  store;  it  is  the  herald  of  any  widely  distributed  product. 
The  advertising  medium  may  be  a  newspaper,  magazine, 
billboard,  street-car  card,  catalogue,  letter,  or  a  hatbox. 

An  advertising  organization  is  complex.  The  advertising 
manager  advises  in  the  making  of,  and  often  makes,  the  ad- 
vertising policy,  in  a  retail  store.  He  is  general  manager  of  the 
advertising  staff,  makes  up  the  budget,  chooses  the  media, 
newspapers,  etc.,  plans  the  campaign,  sometimes  makes  the 
lay-outs  or  dummies  of  the  advertisements.  Then  there  is 
the  copy-writing  and  illustrating.  Sometimes  the  lay-outs 
are  made  by  the  artist.  In  addition  to  these  positions  of 
advertising  manager,  assistant  advertising  manager,  copy- 
writers, illustrators,  there  are  stenographers,  and  those  who 
attend  to  the  detail  of  having  advertisements  corrected,  re- 
vised, released,  filed,  etc. 

Agencies  are  organized  somewhat  differently;  there  are 


8  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

those  who  manage  and  plan,  those  who  write  or  illustrate. 
There  are  representatives  who  seek  business  for  the  agency. 
Sometimes  there  are  research  departments.  The  checking 
and  filing  departments  are  large  in  an  agency.  Important 
agencies  generally  have  a  main  office  in  New  York  and 
branch  offices  in  other  large  cities.  New  York  undoubtedly 
offers  the  best  field  for  agency  positions  to-day.  Copy-writing 
is  the  usual  opening  wedge  into  advertising  for  the  college 
girl.  A  knowledge  of  stenography  often  enables  a  college 
girl  to  be  placed  quickly,  to  wait  for  the  better  chance  that  is 
almost  sure  to  come,  and  to  get  an  advertising  background 
while  waiting. 

Preparation  necessary 

Most  of  the  training  of  advertisers  is  done  "on  the  job." 
Some  very  advanced  agencies  have  well-planned  courses  of 
training;  for  instance,  the  J.  Walter  Thompson  Agency  in 
New  York.  Colleges  and  even  preparatory  schools  in  a  few 
cases  offer  courses  in  advertising.  The  College  of  Business 
Administration  of  Boston  offers  an  evening  course  in  adver- 
tising. Practically  every  winter  the  advertising  clubs  t*hrough- 
out  the  country  give  general  courses  in  advertising.  Both  an 
advanced  and  elementary  course  in  advertising  was  given  this 
winter  (1920)  by  the  Pilgrim  Publicity  Association  of  Boston. 
These  courses  have  to  be  general  by  nature;  they  are  good  as 
a  supplement  to  training,  but  have  not  taken  the  place  of  it. 
It  is  hard  to  give  any  facts  on  the  length  of  training  re- 
quired. A  college-trained  girl  could  begin  her  advertising 
career  as  a  copy-writer,  without  any  previous  advertising 
training,  in  a  good  organization.  But  it  is  generally  hard  to 
fimd  an  opening  under  these  circumstances,  and  the  college- 
trained  girl  usually  finds  it  necessary  to  give  a  year  or  more 
acquiring  some  business  experience  before  she  finds  a  satis- 
factory opening.  When  there  is  an  opening  in  an  advertising 
organization,  it  is  generally  given,  if  possible,  to  either  an 
experienced  person  in  another  organization,  or  to  some  one 


ADVERTISING  9 

"in  line"  for  the  job,  often  a  capable  stenographer  who  is  en- 
tirely familiar  with  the  work  and  the  problems  of  the  depart- 
ment. That  is  why  stenography  is  such  a  good  opening  wedge 
for  the  college  girl  who  wants  to  be  an  advertising  woman. 
Stenography  is  extremely  useful  for  a  copy-writer  in  the 
quick  taking  of  notes,  since  most  copy  is  written  after  an  in- 
terview of  one  sort  or  another. 

Undergraduate  courses  that  may  be  recommended  are 
English,  economics,  psychology,  stenography.  Reportorial 
and  editorial  work  on  college  publications  might  be  added. 
Textiles  should  be  understood  —  the  woman  advertiser  runs 
into  textiles  constantly;  also  home  economics.  Almost  any 
kind  of  knowledge  makes  grist  for  advertising. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  in  advertising  are  good 
on  the  whole.  Within  comparatively  few  years  large  stores 
have  nearly  all  put  women  into  their  advertising  departments. 
Women  are  advertising  managers  in  a  few  large  stores. 
Women  now  hold  responsible  advertising  agency  positions. 
A  few  women  own  their  own  agencies.  There  is  still  prejudice 
against  women  advertising  managers  in  some  quarters.  The 
argument  is  advanced  that  "men  do  not  like  to  work  for 
women." 

Financial  return 

The  minimum  and  maximum  financial  return  are  hard  to 
give,  because  figures  are  not  available.  It  is  the  writer's  ex- 
perience that  salaries  to-day  range  from  a  possible  $1200  a 
year  to  $10,000  a  year,  and  in  a  few  cases  probably  more  for 
salaried  positions;  successful  owners  of  agencies  probably 
make  more.  Salaries  have  changed  the  last  few  years;  six 
or  seven  years  ago  it  was  not  uncommon  for  college-trained 
women  to  take  advertising  positions  for  from  $8  to  $12  a 
week.  These  same  women  are  making  to-day  from  $35  to 
$75  a  week  after  six  or  seven  years'  training  on  the  job. 


10  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Qualifications  necessary 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success  in  advertising  are  ex- 
ecutive ability,  originality;  ability  to  visualize  an  advertise- 
ment, illustration  and  all;  ability  to  express  thoughts  plainly, 
"to  use  the  common  words  to  express  uncommon  thoughts," 
a  business  sense,  and  the  ability  to  work  with  people.  Many 
of  these  qualifications,  probably  all,  can  be  acquired.  Another 
qualification  —  and  this  one  generally  has  to  be  acquired  — 
is  the  ability  to  produce  a  great  quantity  of  work  in  a  short 
time. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  is  not  hum-drum.  Many  advertising  positions  offer 
occasional  business  trips.  A  few  stores,  for  example,  send 
their  advertising  women  to  Paris  occasionally.  The  associa- 
tions are  pleasant.  Advertising  is  a  profession. 

Advertising  people  have  a  stimulating  and  well-managed 
organization,  eligible  to  both  men's  and  women's  advertising 
clubs,  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World. 

The  disadvantages  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

The  work  is  more  or  less  confining.  It  is  done  indoors  and 
generally  in  none  too  pleasant  or  airy  offices,  for  the  adver- 
tising offices  are  seldom  part  of  the  "show"  places  of  an  or- 
ganization.   The  hours  are  sometimes  long. 

The  supply  of  would-be  advertising  men  and  women  is 
greater  than  the  demand,  because  almost  every  one  seems 
to  think  he  or  she  would  be  successful  in  advertising.  The 
supply  of  good,  productive  advertising  women  is  by  no  means 
equal  to  the  demand,  however.  This  is  due  at  present  to  the 
tremendously  increased  advertising  appropriations  of  old 
businesses  and  all  the  new  ones.  Some  people  attribute  this 
to  a  desire  to  spend  money  in  building  up  good-will,  rather 
than  spending  it  in  income  taxes;  others  to  the  well-known 
success  during  the  war  of  advertising  the  Liberty  Loan  —  the 
first  practical  demonstration  to  many  of  the  power  of  adver- 
tising. There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  advertising  will  not 


ADVERTISING  11 

become  a  more  and  more  important  business  force,  with  con- 
stantly bigger  opportunities  for  advancement  for  women,  as 
the  business  world  learns  it  is  good  sense  for  women  to  frame 
the  advertising  appeal  to  other  women;  for  women  do,  or 
control,  over  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  buying;  and  as  the 
women  themselves  learn  to  reach  out  for  managerial  posi- 
tions, which  have  been  practically  closed  to  them  until  very 
recently. 

Suggested  reading 

"Advertise"  —  E.  Sampson  (a  woman,  formerly  advertising 

manager  for  Daniels  &  Fisher,  Denver,  Col.). 
"An  Approach  to  Business  Problems"  —  Shaw. 
"Some  Problems  in  Market  Distribution"  —  Shaw. 
"Advertising  as  a  Business  Force"  —  Cherington. 
"The  First  Advertising  Book"  —  Cherington. 
"The  New  Business"  —  Tipper. 
"The  Economics  of  Retailing"  —  Nystrom. 
"Retail  Selling "  —  Fisk. 

"Advertising  —  Selling  the  Consumer"  —  Mahin. 
"Scientific  Sales  Management"  —  Hoyt. 
"Advertising  and  Selling"  —  Hollingworth. 
"Influencing  Men  in  Business"  —  Scott. 
"Writing  an  Advertisement"  —  Hall. 
"Principles  of  Advertising  Arrangement"  —  Parsons. 
"How  to  Make  Type  Talk"  —  Lewis. 
"Making  Type  Work"  —  Sherbow. 
"Elements  of  Statistical  Method"  —  King. 
"Advertising  as  a  Profession"  —  F.  K.  Allen. 


12  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

K WOMEN  IN-^ADVERTISING  AGENCY  SERVICE 
o  Maurice  t.  moreland 

^'  ^"^  1^  George  Batten  Company,  Inc. 

Description  of  occupation  * 

The  advertising  "agency  offers  an  unusually  fertile  field 
for  women.  All  worth-while  national  advertising  is  placed 
through  advertising  agencies.  When  it  is  considered  that 
about  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  retail  buying  is  done  by 
women  it  is  readily  understood  why  there  is  such  an  op- 
portunity for  women  in  national  advertising  and  agency 
work. 

Without  going  into  the  various  kinds  of  service  which  an 
agency  gives  its  clients,  I  will  touch  briefly  on  the  branches 
of  this  service  for  which  women  are  particularly  fitted.  There 
are,  of  course,  the  routine  jobs  similar  to  those  in  any  large 
business,  accounting,  secretarial,  office  management,  checking 
and  detail  work  of  all  kinds. 

Every  large  agency  maintains  a  research  and  investiga- 
tional department.  Research  consists  of  a  study  of  govern- 
ment reports  and  other  authentic  sources  of  various  industries 
and  trade  conditions.  Many  graphs  are  made  up  for  the 
guidance  of  clients  in  plotting  their  production,  selling,  de- 
velopments of  territories,  etc.  This  work  is  very  interesting 
to  any  one  who  enjoys  statistical  work. 

Investigational  work  covers  everything  from  a  house-to- 
house  canvass  of  housewives  to  the  visiting  of  factories.  Most 
of  it,  however,  is  a  study  of  retail  conditions  for  some  manu- 
facturers. Any  number  of  cities  may  be  visited.  Calls  may 
be  made  upon  buyers  or  clerks  of  retail  stores,  stating  ex- 
actly what  information  is  sought  and  why,  or  it  may  mean 
visiting  the  stores  as  a  "shopper."  This  field,  though  limited, 
should  prove  of  interest  to  any  one  with  the  reportorial 
instinct.  It  is  also  splendid  training  for  the  bigger  jobs  in  an 
agency. 


ADVERTISING  AGENCY  SERVICE  13 

Qualifications  necessary 

Most  women  who  think  of  advertising  think  of  copy- writing. 
This  is,  of  course,  the  big  opportunity  for  women.  The  quaU- 
fications  are  hard  to  define.  A  brief,  graceful  style  in  writing 
is  necessary.  If  one  is  going  to  write  fashion  accounts,  a 
knowledge  and  liking  for  good  clothes  is  highly  essential. 
If  one  is  to  work  on  household  accounts,  like  washing  ma- 
chines, stoves,  floor  coverings,  or  food,  a  love  of  the  domestic 
arts  is  very  helpful.  It  is  important  to  have  a  liking  for  other 
people  and  a  power  to  put  one's  self  quickly  in  the  other  per- 
son's place  and  get  his  or  her  viewpoint. 

Most  colleges  are  now  offering  short  courses  in  advertising 
as  part  of  the  regular  curriculum.  In  all  large  cities  there  are 
evening  courses  in  advertising.  Most  of  them  teach  the  fun- 
damental principles  very  well. 

Financial  return 

The  minimum  salary  is  probably  about  twenty  dollars  per 
week,  and  the  highest  salaries  with  which  I  am  familiar  are 
around  $10,000  per  year. 

There  seems  to  be  no  established  road  to  travel  in  order 
to  become  a  successful  copy-writer.  Stenography  is  the  en- 
tering wedge  in  many  instances.  It  permits  a  woman  to  be 
self-supporting  while  she  is  picking  up  the  atmosphere  and 
background  she  will  find  helpful  when  she  gets  into  bigger 
work.  It  is  generally  necessary  to  start  in  some  subordinate 
capacity  and  then  watch  for  the  opportunity  to  develop 
one's  self  into  a  bigger  job. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantage  of  such  work  is  its  fascination.  It  brings  you 
in  contact  with  the  keenest  and  biggest  minds  in  the  country 
and  a  superficial  knowledge  of  many  businesses.  No  two  days 
are  alike,  for  no  two  accounts  are  alike.  The  work  is  never 
monotonous. 
The  disadvantage  is  that  advertising  is  a  hard  master. 


14  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Your  time  is  never  definitely  your  own.  The  bigger  your  job 
the  more  your  life  must  center  around  it.  You  may  have  to 
start  at  a  few  hours'  notice  for  a  place  you  have  never  heard 
of.  Rush  work  is  sure  to  come  when  you  least  expect  it. 

Supply  and  demand 

There  are  no  statistics  available  of  the  number  of  women 
in  this  work.  It  is  a  constantly  increasing  number.  Women 
have  just  broken  into  this  work  and  the  number  engaged  in 
it  will  undoubtedly  double  within  the  next  two  years. 

The  principal  cities  where  such  work  exists  are  New  York, 
Chicago,  and  Philadelphia.  Every  city  of  any  size  has  small 
agencies  where  a  general  training  could  be  more  quickly  ob- 
tained than  in  larger  agencies  where  the  work  is  more  highly 
specialized. 


THE  BANK  PUBLICITY  AGENT 

EDITH  S.  MANSON 

Description  of  occupation 

An  interesting  and  remunerative  occupation  for  either  men 
or  women  whose  natural  aptitudes  or  former  business  expe- 
rience has  inclined  in  this  direction  is  concerned  with  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  those  engaged  in  bank  pub- 
licity. 

Doubtless  in  the  smaller,  or  perhaps  even  in  the  moderate, 
and  in  some  quite  large,  banks  the  publicity  work  would  be 
simply  another  function  added  to  the  already  long  list  of  the 
duties  of  one  of  the  oflBcers  of  the  bank.  As  yet  it  is  only  in 
the  relatively  big  city  banks  that  a  publicity  expert  gives 
his  or  her  entire  time  and  effort  to  this  work.  I  believe  as  a 
rule,  except  in  the  cases  where  publicity  is  handled  by  one  of 
the  bank's  own  officers,  that  some  one  is  sought  for  the  posi- 
tion who  has  had  previous  successful  experience  in  some  one 
of  the  active  fields  of  advertising  work. 


THE  BANK  PUBLICITY  AGENT  15 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  or  training  that  is  necessary  is  general 
rather  than  specific.  In  fact  any  line  of  training,  the  object 
of  which  is  general  culture  and  is  calculated  to  give  a  better 
and  quicker  intuitive  grasp  of  practical  business  problems,  will 
be  helpful.  Any  line  of  either  study  or  work  that  would  help 
to  give  one  an  understanding  of  general  advertising  problems, 
that  would  perfect  one's  efficient  use  of  English  as  well  as 
develop  and  refine  one's  understanding  of  human  nature  and 
of  practical  psychology,  will  be  found  of  decided  practical 
value. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  are,  of  course,  decidedly 
good  for  any  one  having  capacity  for  a  genuine  success,  and 
especially  for  those  with  the  ability  to  lift  their  work  out  of 
the  routine  and  hackneyed  class  and  who,  by  native  capacity 
and  force,  can  give  to  their  work  interesting  and  original 
applications.  The  advantages  can  be  stated  as  giving  op- 
portunities for  forming  business  acquaintances  and  contacts 
with  the  best  business  men  and  organizations  of  the  country, 
with  a  reasonably  clear  field  for  demonstrating  one's  own 
individual  capacities  and  incapacities.  It  need  not  be  added 
that  work  of  a  decidedly  interesting  character  can  be  done 
by  the  man  or  woman  who  has  the  native  capacity  and  pe- 
culiar trend  or  quality  of  mind  and  ability  that  this  decidedly 
exacting  work  requires. 

Demand 

There  are  very  few  statistics  on  this  occupation  available. 
The  demand  is  plentiful.  When  demand  is  defined  as  need, 
there  are  many  of  the  larger  banks,  who,  if  they  could  feel 
reasonably  sure  of  the  potential  success  of  the  experiment, 
would  be  glad  to  pay  an  attractive  salary  to  one  who  could 
put  new  life  and  spirit  into  their  publicity  work._ 


16  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  PUBLICITY  SPECIALIST 

MARY  SWAIN  ROUTZAHN 

Department  of  Surveys  and  Exhibits,  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  New  York 

Description  of  occupation 

The  publicity  specialist  is  variously  known  as  publicity 
manager,  director,  agent,  or  secretary,  or  by  one  of  many 
other  titles.  In  fact  the  title  "publicity  specialist"  or  "ex- 
pert" does  not  necessarily  carry  with  it  any  widely  ac- 
cepted implications.  Recently  the  ex-office  boy  of  a  metro- 
politan daily  announced  that  he  had  gone  into  business  for 
himself  as  a  publicity  expert.  Although  this  is  an  extreme 
example,  the  lack  of  any  definition  of  necessary  qualifica- 
tions for  the  job  makes  it  possible  for  persons  to  pose  as  ex- 
perts on  the  basis  of  very  slender  claims  to  ability  in  putting 
ideas  across.  Whatever  the  title  or  the  nature  of  the  work, 
the  purpose  is  to  get  information  and  ideas  before  the  public 
through  one  or  more  of  many  avenues  for  spreading  news. 
Recently  there  has  been  a  considerable  protest  against  the 
growing  number  of  organizations  employing  publicity  rep- 
resentatives to  force  upon  the  attention  of  the  public  preju- 
diced views  and  inaccurate  information  usually  aimed  to 
influence  public  policy.  Aside  from  the  unwelcome  pur- 
veyors of  doubtful  propaganda,  there  is  a  large  group  of 
specialists  engaged  in  the  useful  work  of  bridging  the  gap 
between  those  persons  who  are  wholly  absorbed  in  research, 
administration, •  or  other  service  and  the  "general  public" 
whose  members  are  expected  to  support  the  work  or  benefit 
by  it,  and  therefore  should  be  kept  informed  about  it. 

The  nature  of  the  work  done  by  the  publicity  specialist 
depends  on  many  factors,  chief  among  them  being  the  way 
in  which  the  service  is  given,  the  number  and  kind  of  pub- 
licity media  employed,  and  the  size  of  the  job. 

Publicity  service  is  given  by  separate  bureaus,  by  salaried 
employees,  or  by  free-lance  workers.    There  are  in  New 


THE  PUBLICITY  SPECIALIST  17 

York  and  other  large  cities  a  few  publicity  bureaus  offering  to 
social,  civic,  political,  and  other  organizations,  both  national 
and  local,  many  kinds  of  service.  One  specialist  announces 
the  services  she  offers  as  "the  promotion,  through  planned 
publicity,  of  forums,  churches,  schools,  lectures,  welfare 
organizations,  and  social  movements."  Another  agency, 
more  general  in  scope,  says:  "We  are  equipped  in  experience 
and  facilities  to  handle  a  propaganda  of  any  size  in  all  of  its 
departments,  from  the  organization  and  development  of 
press  service,  speakers'  bureau,  etc.,  to  the  formulation  of 
plans  and  policies  in  connection  with  the  sponsors  of  the 
movement.  We  conduct  investigations,  negotiations,  pre- 
pare reports,  design  posters  and  printed  matter  in  the  most 
effective  forms  devisable  —  in  short,  render  a  complete 
service,  if  that  is  what  the  client  wants.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  here  to  act  simply  in  an  advisory  capacity,  or  to  handle 
only  the  press  work,  as  in  the  case  of  some  small  local  organ- 
ization which  neither  wants  a  big  *  campaign'  nor  can  afford 
to  spend  much  money." 

Some  organizations  maintain  large  publicity  departments 
of  their  own  with  a  director  at  the  head  and  assistants  in 
charge  of  subdivisions  of  work  which  usually  follow  the 
avenues  of  publicity  used.  Other  organizations  have  one 
secretary  or  director  who  does  all  of  the  publicity  work  or 
even  combines  it  with  other  administrative  duties.  A  third 
type  of  worker  is  the  "free-lance"  publicity  agent  usually 
to  be  found  in  large  cities,  who  may  be  engaged  by  the  week 
or  month  or  job  for  some  special  undertaking. 

The  avenues,  or  "media,"  chiefly  used  are  the  newspapers, 
magazines,  motion  pictures,  meetings,  exhibits,  letters,  dis- 
tribution of  printed  matter,  organization  of  volunteer  workers, 
and  many  kinds  of  special  features  or  stimts.  The  newspaper 
is  considered  by  many  the  main  avenue,  and  a  large  share  of 
their  efforts  is  concentrated  on  getting  "space"  in  daily 
papers.  However,  there  are  many  circumstances  in  which  the 
newspaper  is  by  no  means  the  main  channel  for  getting  inf or- 


18  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

mation  across  to  the  special  audience  for  whose  members  the 
message  is  intended,  and  there  is  still  a  large  and  undeveloped 
field  for  publicity  specialists  in  improving  methods  and  making 
opportunities  for  more  effective  use  of  meetings,  displays,  and 
other  media. 

Actual  work  done 

It  would  be  diflficult  to  describe  the  occupation  in  terms  of  the 
actual  performance  of  tasks,  because  of  the  variety  of  methods 
employed,  the  difference  in  the  degree  of  specialization  in  giv- 
ing the  service,  and  the  lack  of  any  generally  accepted  stand- 
ards or  technique  in  the  profession.  The  most  obvious  task 
is  writing  copy.  Other  duties  include  getting  information 
through  interviews,  reading,  and  observation;  "selling"  ideas, 
plans,  or  articles  to  editors  and  others;  organizing  committees 
of  volunteers  and  directing  their  efforts  as  speakers,  solicitors 
of  funds,  or  participants  in  a  special  event;  office  administra- 
tion; designing  and  directing  the  preparation  of  posters,  leaf- 
lets, or  exhibits.  These  are  just  a  few  of  the  tasks  that  come 
within  the  requirements  of  an  all-round  publicity  job.  The 
most  important  and  most  highly  skilled  part  of  the  work  is 
making  a  plan  that  fits  the  special  purpose  and  conditions  of 
a  given  organization  or  movement,  a  plan  that  takes  into 
account  what  it  is  reasonable  to  attempt  to  accomplish,  what 
special  audiences  should  be  selected  as  the  most  likely  to  re- 
spond to  a  message  or  appeal,  what  avenues  are  best  to  use  in 
order  to  reach  these  audiences,  what  information  and  ideas  to 
use  out  of  many  that  might  be  given  out,  and  other  factors 
that  make  each  pubhcity  campaign  a  special  problem  differing 
from  every  other  one. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

I  DO  not  know  of  any  college  or  school  offering  a  course  of 
study  that  gives  a  well-rounded  preparation  for  the  publicity 
specialist.  Probably  the  majority  of  those  engaged  in  the 
work  have  graduated,  or  deserted  or  been  dropped  from  the 


THE  PUBLICITY  SPECIALIST  19 

field  of  reporting,  or  editing  for  newspapers,  or  magazines. 
Certainly  the  newspaper  offers  very  valuable  experience  in  an 
important  branch  of  publicity  work.  Others  who  have  been 
specialists  in  a  field  like  public  health  or  philanthropic  work 
have  acquired  some  experience  in  publicity  work  through 
necessity  and  found  the  work  sufficiently  alluring  to  enter  it 
as  a  profession. 

In  the  absence  of  any  specially  planned  training  for  the 
publicity  agent  there  are  many  and  varied  courses  of  study 
that  should  prove  very  helpful.  These  include  journalism, 
advertising,  psychology,  economics,  statistics,  not  to  mention 
graphic  arts  and  public  speaking.  What  should  actually  con- 
stitute a  course  of  training  is  still  to  be  determined,  and  the 
writer  hopes  to  have  some  information  assembled  within  the 
year  that  will  at  least  prove  suggestive  on  this  subject. 

Experience  or  training  in  the  general  field  in  which  the  pub- 
licity work  is  done  is  very  important  to  really  good  work. 
For  example,  if  it  is  politics,  one  must  learn  the  political 
game;  if  it  is  social  welfare,  one  should  by  all  means  become 
familiar  with  the  general  aims,  ideals,  and  methods  of  social 
movements. 

Financial  returns  —  Advancement 

Any  statements  that  I  may  make  on  extent  of  opportunities 
and  salaries  paid  are  based  on  very  limited  information.  So 
far  as  I  know,  there  have  been  no  reliable  data  collected  on 
this  subject.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  ladder  to  be  climbed.  The 
director  of  one  publicity  agency  says  that  at  the  bottom  is  the 
copy-writer,  who  must  have  had  training  and  show  ability  in 
writing  and  who  earns,  at  the  start,  $30  a  week.  Some  of  the 
free-lance  workers  obtain  for  their  services  from  $50  to  $100 
a  week  and  expenses;  here,  of  course,  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count the  uncertainty  of  full-time  employment.  Salaried 
publicity  directors  of  experience  in  the  social  welfare  field,  if 
such  can  be  found,  can  probably  earn  from  $3000  to  $5000 
a  year,  judging  by  amounts  named  in  requests  for  workers 


JM)  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

that  come  to  our  attention.  But  there  are  so  very  few  persons 
qualified  to  fill  these  positions  that  some  of  these  salary  offers 
go  begging.  A  few  nationally  known  specialists  are  earning 
very  large  incomes. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

To  be  as  moderate  as  possible  in  naming  the  personal  qualifi- 
cations, I  would  suggest  that  the  publicity  specialist  needs  a 
pleasing  personality,  vitality,  capacity  for  hard  work,  accu- 
racy, adaptability,  honesty,  ability  to  listen  intelligently  and 
sympathetically  —  and  one  could  continue.  In  the  absence  of 
one  or  several  of  these  qualifications,  one  needs  to  possess 
others  of  them  to  a  high  degree  in  order  to  strike  a  balance. 
The  person  who  is  never  accurate,  but  always  clever  and  origi- 
nal, may  sometimes  be  checked  up  by  a  working  mate  of  the 
sure  and  plodding  type,  but  habitual  inaccuracy  could  not  be 
tolerated  in  any  one  of  only  average  ability. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Usually  there  is  plenty  of  variety  in  the  work  of  the  publicity 
specialist  and  it  is  likely  to  include,  sooner  or  later,  varied  ex- 
periences, meeting  interesting  people,  and  sometimes  travel. 
But  all  of  this  is  paid  for  by  periods  of  hard  application  to 
what  may  seem  monotonous  detail  and  other  periods  when 
unavoidable  rush  work  calls  for  long  hours  and  high  tension. 
It  would  be  difficult,  however,  to  make  any  statement  about 
advantages  and  disadvantages  that  applies  generally,  since,  as 
has  already  been  stated,  the  actual  work  done  varies  so  widely. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Undoubtedly  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  publicity 

work  increased  considerably  during  the  war,  and  many  persons 

who  gained  their  first  experience  in  publicity  through  war 

work  describe  themselves  as  "specialists"  on  the  basis  of  that 

experience. 

On  the  other  hand,  organizations  seeking  workers  really 
capable  of  taking  the  responsibility,  or  interpreting  the  spirit 


THE  PUBLICITY  SPECIALIST  21 

and  substance  of  their  message  to  the  public,  are  seeking  in 
vain  for  "the  right  person."  Until  the  job  attains  the  dignity 
of  a  profession  with  recognized  standards  and  opportunities  to 
obtain  the  necessary  training,  the  scarcity  of  qualified  persons 
will  continue.  But  the  need  for  such  specialists  exists,  the  de- 
mand for  their  services  is  increasing,  and  it  seems  reasonable 
to  hope  that  in  response  to  this  demand  at  least  two  things  will 
happen:  on  the  one  hand,  colleges  will  find  out  what  sort  of 
training  is  required  and  introduce  suitable  courses;  and  on  the 
other,  the  specialists  already  in  the  field  will  come  together 
to  discuss  methods  and  evolve  standards  just  as  advertising 
specialists  have  done  in  what  was  not  long  ago  an  equally 
haphazard  profession. 

Suggested  reading 

A  NATURAL  accompaniment  of  the  unorganized  condition  of 

the  profession  is  a  lack  of  literature  on  the  subject.  Here  again 

we  must  look  to  other  fields  for  assistance.    The  following 

books  are  suggested  as  useful  to  any  one  engaged  in  publicity 

work,  although  no  one  of  them  covers  even  in  a  general  way 

the  outlines  or  principles  of  publicity  as  a  job : 

"A  B  C  of  Exhibit  Planning"  —  E.  G.  and  M.  S.  Routzahn, 

New  York  City.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 
"Advertising    and    Selling"  —  H.   L.   HoUingworth,    New 

York.   Appleton. 
"Advertising:  Its  Principles,  Practice  and  Technique"  — 

Daniel  Starch,  New  York.   Scott. 
"Making  Type  Work"  —  Benjamin  Sherbow,    New    York. 

Century  Co. 
"Principles  of  Advertising  Arrangement"  —  F.  A.  Parsons, 

New  York.    Prang. 
"Public  Health  Publicity:  The  Art  of  Stimulating  and  Focus- 
ing  Public  Opinion"  —  E.   A.  Moree.    (In  American 

Journal  of  Public  Health,  vol.  6,  1916.) 
"Traveling  Publicity  Campaigns"  —  M.  S.  Routzahn,  New 

Tork.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


22  CAEEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  SOCIAL  SERVICE  PUBLICITY  COUNCILOR 

MARY  CAROLINE  CRAWFORD 

Description  of  occupation 

Increasingly  in  these  days  of  "drives,"  and  in  an  era  when 
the  printed  word  about  any  undertaking  seems  to  carry  so  far, 
a  new  and  interesting  field  for  women's  work  is  that  of  pub- 
licity secretary  either  to  one  organization  or,  where  a  woman 
is  moved  to  set  up  an  oflfice,  for  a  number  of  organizations 
on  a  retaining-fee  basis.  Most  well-equipped  social  organi- 
zations have  their  own  pubUcity  secretaries. 

The  task  is  to  put  over  new  ideas  and  to  send  out,  through 
newspaper  articles,  booklets,  magazines,  window  cards,  and 
in  many  other  ways,  information  concerning  the  movement; 
what  it  is,  and  what  it  hopes  to  be.  The  social  worker,  who 
wishes  to  take  up  advertising  as  a  profession,  has  a  much 
easier  task  than  the  advertising  woman  who  decides  to  limit 
her  field  to  social  work. 

Preparation  suggested 

A  COLLEGE  education  or  its  equivalent  plus  graduate  work 
is  a  good  foundation.  To  attempt  to  promote  social  organi- 
zations without  some  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  problems 
and  the  limitations  of  social  workers,  and  without  a  quicken- 
ing enthusiasm  for  social  work  itself,  would  be  like  editing 
an  agricultural  journal  without  knowing  the  difference  be- 
tween alfalfa  and  apples.  None  the  less,  if  courses  on  social 
service  publicity  could  be  added  to  the  various  schools  of  social 
work,  I  can  conceive  that  they  would  prove  extremely  useful. 
The  field  for  councilors  in  social  service  publicity  is  limited 
only  by  the  hours  of  the  day  and  a  person's  strength.  Two 
or  three  college  girls  with  enthusiasm  for  this  profession 
might  very  advantageously,  having  acquired  experience 
through  social  work  itself  and  through  journalism,  form  a 
partnership  and  divide  the  various  branches  of  the  work  with 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  PUBLICITY  COUNCILOR       23 

due  regard  for  the  tastes  and  gifts  of  each  member  of  the 
group.  Such  an  oflSce  might  make  considerable  money. 

Financial  return 

Women  with  a  gift  for  social  service  publicity,  having  had  the 
proper  training,  ought  to  be  able  to  make  between  two  and 
three  thousand  dollars  a  year  almost  from  the  first. 

Qualifications 

The  natural  qualifications  for  success  in  this  field  might  per- 
haps be  defined  as  the  desire  to  be  useful,  enthusiasm  for 
social  work,  interest  in  the  English  language  and  in  the  type 
forms.  Then,  of  course,  in  work  of  this  kind,  one  needs  to 
like  people. 

The  work  is  not  confining,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  com- 
mission may  come  in  late  in  the  day  which  necessitates  steady 
working  until  midnight.  And  of  course  the  perfect  health 
which  enables  one  to  do  this  without  unduly  feeling  the  ef- 
fects the  next  day,  or  makes  it  possible  to  jump  into  a  train 
and  travel  all  night  without  any  impairment  of  mental  or 
physical  freshness,  is  a  great  asset. 

Reading 

The  books  which  would  help  to  train  such  a  worker  are  of 
course  of  two  kinds;  those  which  have  to  do  with  social  work 
and  those  which  have  to  do  with  advertising.  Any  good 
library  can  supply  a  complete  bibliography  under  either  of 
these  heads.  In  the  field  of  magazines  "The  Survey"  stands 
out  for  social  workers,  of  course,  just  as  "Printers*  Ink"  does 
for  people  devoted  to  advertising  and  allied  interests.  A  good 
little  handbook  in  the  advertising  field  has  been  prepared  by 
Daniel  Starch,  Ph.D.,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  This 
book  has  been  out  some  six  or  seven  years,  but  it  is  still  used, 
I  believe,  at  Simmons  College,  in  the  course  for  secretaries 
which  includes  some  training  in  advertising.  There  are  also 
a  number  of  correspondence  courses  in  advertising  which  rec- 
ommend books  of  their  own. 


AGRICULTURE  — ANIMAL  INDUSTRY  — 
HORTICULTURE 

THE  BEEKEEPER 

LETITIA  E.  WRIGHT,  Jr. 

The  Bee  Cluh,  School  of  Horticulture  for  Women,  AmUer,  Pennsylvania 

Description  of  occupation 

Beekeeping  is  an  industry  of  many  branches.  Bees  are  kept 
for  different  purposes:  for  the  fertilization  of  fruit;  for  their 
honey;  for  the  increase  and  the  sale  of  bees  themselves;  for 
breeding  and  the  rearing  of  queens. 

A  knowledge  of  beekeeping  is  essential  whatever  the  pur- 
pose may  be;  and  beekeeping  means  very  active  and  delight- 
ful outdoor  work  for  at  least  six  months  of  the  year.  Heavy 
lifting  is  its  principal  drawback.  Queen-rearing  is  a  branch 
of  beekeeping  which  reguires  rather  careful  and  particular 
work,  and  women  are  said  to  be  exceptionally  good  at  it. 

Besides  the  outdoor  work  there  is  a  lot  to  be  done  inside, 
including  the  extracting,  bottling,  and  labeling  of  honey, 
editorial  work,  educational  work,  lecturing,  and  the  work 
necessary  to  put  the  honey  on  the  market.  When  a  quantity 
of  honey  is  extracted  by  electricity,  the  work  is  easy  but  when 
done  by  hand  it  is  laborious.  The  bottling  and  labeling  of 
honey  sounds  particularly  like  a  woman's  work,  but  unless 
she  has  some  one  to  lift  for  her,  again  she  is  confronted  by  the 
heavy  lifting.  First  the  container  from  which  she  draws  her 
honey  must  be  filled,  and  commercial  honey  is  handled  in 
sixty-pound  cans,  hardly  what  the  average  woman  lifts  with 
ease.  Then  when  filled,  the  jars  must  be  packed  in  cases  and 
the  lids  nailed  on.  The  cases  can  be  piled  one  on  top  of  the 
other,  but  there  comes  a  time  when  they  must  be  moved  to 
make  place  for  more,  A  man  can  be  hired  to  do  the  heavy 


THE  BEEKEEPER  25 

work  if  necessary,  but  it  should  be  well  understood  before 
starting  that,  at  almost  every  turn,  this  difficulty  occurs. 
There  is  open  to  women  the  business  end  of  putting  the  honey 
on  the  market,  and  one  with  the  knowledge  of  how  that  honey 
has  been  produced,  and  why  it  is  thus  and  so,  will  carry 
greater  weight  than  one  who  has  no  knowledge  of  the  process 
back  of  the  finished  article. 

One's  knowledge  of  beekeeping  is  sometimes  utilized  in 
editorial  work.  Miss  lona  Fowls,  assistant  editor  of  "Glean- 
ings in  Bee  Culture,"  was  chosen  for  this  position  because  she 
directed  the  work  in  her  father's  large  apiary  and  knew  bee- 
keeping in  all  its  phases.  Her  advice  is  asked  by  beekeepers 
all  over  the  United  States,  and  back  of  her  word  stands  the 
large  bee  supply  firm  of  the  A.  I.  Root  Company,  who  pub- 
lish "Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture." 

Preparation  necessary 

For  preparation,  a  general  agricultural  course  is  best,  then 
specialize  in  apiculture.  Opportunity  for  advancement  de- 
pends almost  entirely  upon  the  individual. 

Short  courses  in  beekeeping  are  given  at  the  School  of 
Horticulture  for  Women,  Ambler,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  spring 
and  fall.  During  the  winter  there  have  been  short  courses  at 
the  University  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Missouri;  New  York 
State  College  of  Agriculture,  Ithaca,  New  York;  and  at 
Ontario  Agricultural  College,  Guelph,  Ontario.  There  are., 
such  courses  at  nearly  every  state  college,  but  there  is  every 
likelihood  that  they  are  a  little  too  advanced  for  a  beginner, 
unless  fairly  well  read  and  familiar  with  the  technical  terms 
of  beekeeping. 

A  woman  uncertain  that  beekeeping  will  prove  congenial 
work  should  take  a  position  at  an  apiary  where  she  can 
obtain  some  practical  experience  before  going  into  the  work 
seriously.  Such  a  position  may  be  found  from  the  "wanted" 
columns  of  some  bee  journal. 


26  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Qualifications 

Qualifications  are  good  health,  strength,  a  love  of  bees, 

some  knowledge  of  carpentry,  and  business  ability. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  are  an  out-of-door  life,  an  interesting  and 
varied  occupation.  The  disadvantages  are  the  heavy  lifting 
and  bee  stings. 

Reading 

Bulletins  for  free  distribution  through  the  Bureau  of  En- 
tomology, Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C.,are: 

Farmers*  Bulletins  — 

447,  "Bees." 

503,  "Comb  Honey." 

653,  "Honey  and  its  Uses  in  the  Home." 

695,  "Outdoor  Wintering  of  Bees." 
1012,  "Preparation  of  Bees  for  Outdoor  Wintering." 
1014,  "Wintering  Bees  in  Cellars." 
1039,  "Commercial  Comb  Honey  Production." 

Bee  journals  published  in  the  United  States  — 
"American  Bee  Journal,"  Hamilton,  111. 
"Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,"  Medina,  Ohio. 
"Domestic  Beekeeper,"  Almont,  Mich. 
"Beekeepers'  Item,"  Braunfels,  Texas. 
"The  Western  Honeybee,"  121  Temple  St.,  Los  Angeles, 

Cal. 
"The  California  Honeybowl,"  Riverside,  Cal. 
"Dixie  Beekeeper,"  Way  cross,  Ga. 

Books  on  Beekeeping  — 

"Beginners'  Bee  Book"  —  Frank  C.  Pellett. 
"Productive  Beekeeping"  —  Frank  C.  Pellett. 
"First  Lessons  in  Beekeeping"  —  C.  P.  Dadant. 
"Beekeeping"  —  E.  R.  Phillips. 

"ABC  and  XYZ  of  Bee  Culture"  —  A.  I.  and  E.  R. 
Root,  a  book  of  reference. 


THE  DAIRY  WORKER  27 

THE  DAIRY  WORKER 

HARRIET  F.  HILLIKER 

Description  of  occupation 

The  definition  of  "dairy  worker"  depends  on  the  place  of 
work,  whether  in  a  commercial  or  home  dairy,  and  the  size  of 
the  place.  In  a  commercial  dairy  the  definition  would  apply 
to  one  who  has  the  care  or  analysis  of  milk  and  its  products. 
In  a  farm  dairy  it  would  apply  to  one  who  does  anything 
from  taking  care  of  the  cows  to  handling  the  milk. 

The  work  done  in  a  commercial  dairy  would  be  testing 
milk  for  butter  fat,  for  solids,  and  the  various  other  com- 
ponents, pasteurizing,  bottling,  making  butter,  cheese,  and 
other  milk  products,  making  bacterial  counts,  or  having 
the  general  care  of  milk.  On  a  small  farm  the  dairy  worker 
would  probably  do  the  milking  and  care  for  the  cows  as  well 
as  look  after  the  milk;  while  on  a  large  farm  she  would  prob- 
ably handle  the  milk  only,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
cows. 

Training  necessary 

Training  for  commercial  dairying  had  best  be  received  in 
some  agricultural  college  or  school  where  regular  courses  in 
scientific  dairying  are  given,  or  to  some  extent  in  normal 
schools  where  the  work  in  domestic  science  contains  some 
dairy  work.  Training  for  home  dairying  should  also  come 
from  an  agricultural  school  or  from  working  on  a  farm  as  as- 
sistant. The  length  of  training  depends  on  the  time  one  has 
to  devote  to  it  and  on  what  phase  of  the  work  one  is  to  enter. 
In  all  cases  the  so-called  "short  courses"  at  agricultural  col- 
leges would  be  enough  to  start  one  with  a  general  survey  of 
the  work  and  a  chance  to  do  a  small  amount  of  the  actual 
work  in  testing,  butter-making,  etc.  The  regular  four-year 
course  allows  much  more  time  and  opportunity  for  work  and 
of  course  is  more  complete. 


28  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

*^  If  the  training  is  to  be  post-graduate  it  would  be  advisable 
to  take  any  sciences  ofiFered  in  undergraduate  study,  chem- 
istry, botany,  zoology,  micro-biology,  if  possible,  and  any 
domestic  science  work,  for  the  latter  usually  includes  some 
dairy  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Opportunities  for  advancement  would  probably  be  better 
in  market  dairying;  for  work  in  dairy  laboratories,  as  testing 
or  butter-making,  might  lead  to  Government  work  in  market 
dairying.  In  home  dairies  people  are  still  skeptical  about  a 
girl's  ability,  and  as  far  as  chance  for  advancement  in  that 
line  there  is  as  yet  practically  none. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  of  dairying  are  rather  unsettled,  for 
there  are  not  enough  in  the  work  to  make  any  reasonable 
deduction;  but  probably  an  estimate  would  be  $40  to  $50 
plus  board  and  room,  for  home  dairies,  and  $75  to  $100  for 
commercial  dairies. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

As  to  qualifications  for  a  dairy  worker,  there  are  no  special 
ones.  Any  ordinary  person,  who  does  not  want  to  be  con- 
fined to  a  desk  or  chair  would  very  well  succeed,  for  skill  is 
acquired  in  this  field  as  in  any  other  field  by  practice,  neat- 
ness, and  observation. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  fact  that  the  work  is  not  confined  to  one  spot  all  day  is 
an  advantage  to  some  people.  There  is  more  freedom,  and 
not  so  much  restraint.  In  a  home  dairy  there  is  usually  time 
off  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  Again  work  with  milk  is  sup- 
posed to  be  healthy. 

Disadvantages  in  a  commercial  dairy  come  chiefly  from  the 
fact  that  the  work  is  often  wet.   The  cement  floors  are  fre- 


THE  DOG-RAISER  29 

quently  washed  down  and  there  is  apt  to  be  quite  a  little  water 
used  at  all  times.  The  work  has  no  disadvantage  over  any 
business  in  respect  to  early  hours  or  confinement.  In  a  home 
dairy,  of  course,  it  is  different,  for  one  has  to  be  there  seven 
days  a  week,  and  usually  the  working  hours  begin  early  in 
the  morning. 

Supply  and  demand 

There  seems  to  be  very  little  demand  at  present  for  girls 
in  dairy  work.  It  is  up  to  the  girls  interested  in  it  to  create 
the  demand.  At  present  there  seem  to  be  enough  girls  to 
supply  the  available  positions.  There  are  no  specific  localities 
where  dairy  work  for  girls  is  common.  You  may  find  a  girl 
at  a  small  commercial  dairy  on  a  summer  estate  or  on  a  place 
where  the  owner  has  become  interested  in  girls  through  war 
work.  At  present  there  are  few  engaged  in  dairying;  not 
enough  to  make  any  accurate  estimates  in  regard  to  locality. 

Reading 

Any  readings  that  might  be  helpful  for  the  work  would  be 
U.S.  Dairy  publications  on  dairy  work;  farm  papers,  such 
as  "Hoard's  Dairyman,"  the  "Rural  New  Yorker,"  "New 
England  Homesteader";  dairy  books,  "Testing  Milk  and 
Products,"  by  Farrington  and  Well;  or  any  literature  issued 
by  colleges. 

THE  DOG-RAISER 

CLAUDIA  PHELPS 

Description  of  occupation 

By  "  dog-raiser "  is  meant  one  who  desires  to  raise  dogs  of 
good  quality  and  to  improve  his  chosen  breed  as  well  as  to 
make  dogs  a  source  of  profit  to  their  owners.  It  is  compar- 
atively easy  to  get  a  female  and  raise  a  litter  of  puppies  of 
pure  breed,  but  it  requires  thought,  care,  skill,  and  patience 
to  study  blood  lines  so  that  the  puppies  will  combine  those 


30  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

strains  most  likely  to  produce  very  good  dogs,  to  rear  those 
puppies  to  the  best  advantage,  and  to  "develop"  them  to 
show  form.  In  this  country  the  breeding  of  pedigreed  dogs 
has  not  reached  the  magnitude  as  a  business  that  it  has  in 
Great  Britain.  There  it  is  a  recognized  and  lucrative  pro- 
fession. Here  there  are  large  kennels  usually  managed  by 
Englishmen,  as  American  men  have  not  attained  the  skill  in 
training  and  preparing  dogs  for  shows  that  the  first-named 
have.  It  would  seem  that  there  is  an  opening  for  trained 
women  more  especially  with  kennels  of  toy  dogs  or  those 
breeds  that  are  considered  difficult  to  rear.  The  best  dogs  in 
England  as  well  as  here  are  raised  by  the  owner  of  one  or  two 
good  females  rather  than  by  the  very  large  kennel.  Of  course 
there  are  many  large  kennels  that  raise  excellent  stock,  but 
the  small  owner  has  equal  opportunity  with  the  others. 

Training  necessary 

The  best  preparation  can  be  secured  through  reading.  Vet- 
erinary knowledge  is  always  valuable.  There  is  no  place  that 
we  know  of  where  training  can  be  obtained  before  taking  a 
position,  though  there  seems  no  reason  why  the  state  veter- 
inary colleges  or  similar  institutions  should  not  allow  people 
to  assist  in  the  care  of  cases.  A  thorough  study  of  the  laws  of 
heredity  is  most  helpful,  as  with  a  knowledge  of  these  laws 
and  of  the  good  and  bad  points  of  the  best-known  dogs  much 
uncertainty  can  be  eliminated  by  the  help  of  pedigrees. 

A  good  manager  can  secure  excellent  wages  once  her  repu- 
tation is  established,  but  she  would  have  to  understand 
thoroughly  the  details  of  her  work.  The  majority  of  dog- 
raisers  start  with  one  good  female  kept  more  or  less  as  a  pet. 
Once  one  has  established  a  reputation  for  raising  good  dogs 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  the  puppies. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  varies  with  the  quality,  variety,  and 

demand  for  that  particular  breed.   The  average  price  for  a 


THE  DOG-RAISER  31 

nice  two-months-old  puppy  (male),  of  the  more  popular 
breeds,  is  $50.  In  many  breeds  there  is  very  little  demand  for 
females.  Dogs  of  superlative  quality  have  brought  as  much  as 
$7500,  but  this  is  extraordinary,  and  the  would-be  dog-raiser 
need  not  anticipate  any  such  price,  though  a  good  show  dog 
will  readily  fetch  several  hundred  dollars. 

Qualifications 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  are:  love  of  animals, 
patience,  watchfulness,  willingness  to  work  over  the  dogs, 
comprehension  of  dogs,  and  much  '*  common  sense."  The 
ability  to  judge  the  fine  points  of  the  breed  chosen  can  be 
developed  to  a  high  degree  by  studying  the  best  show  dogs, 
discussing  them  with  successful  breeders,  attending  shows, 
and  reading.  Before  selecting  a  breed  the  following  points 
should  be  carefully  considered:  popularity  (this  affects  price, 
etc.),  difficulty  in  raising,  cost  of  feed,  transportation  —  an 
inaccessible  place  makes  selling  more  difficult.  Also  one 
should  consider  whether  the  breed  is  likely  to  continue  in 
favor  and  thus  command  good  prices. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  several  ways  of  carrying  on  the  business  of  a  dog-raiser 
have  their  advantages.  If  one  begins  with  one  or  two  and 
keeps  the  dogs  as  a  side  line,  there  are  the  pleasures  and 
troubles  common  to  the  care  of  all  pets,  while  if  one  is  in- 
terested in  showing,  much  amusement  as  well  as  help  can  be 
had.  As  manager  of  a  kennel  one  has  congenial  and  respon- 
sible work;  the  life  is,  or  should  be,  largely  out  of  doors  and 
healthy,  and  one  meets  many  people,  many  of  whom  are  very 
interesting  and  agreeable.  One  point  that  should  be  empha- 
sized is  that  the  raising  of  dogs  that  will  win  prizes  cannot 
be  successfully  done  by  mere  luck.  The  dog-raiser  who  is 
to  establish  a  strain  of  prize-winning  dogs  requires  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  of  heredity  and  variation,  of  the  history  of 
the  breed  in  general,  and  of  its  best-known  dogs,  so  that  he 


32  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

can  strive  to  eliminate  the  faults  of  the  ancestors  in  the 
puppies.  To  the  lover  of  animals  who  can  decide  on  an  ideal 
dog  and  has  the  courage  to  stick  to  his  ideal,  the  scientific 
breeding  of  dogs  for  desired  points  is  fascinating.  Like 
artists  one  strives  to  produce  perfection,  but  the  media  are 
living  things  with  many  unknown  inheritances  to  upset  one's 
plans. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  disadvantages  to  all  occupa- 
tions, and  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  care  of  the  dogs  is  that 
one  has  to  be  always  watching  them  if  great  success  is  de- 
sired. It  is  impossible  to  foretell  illness,  etc.,  and  if  any- 
thing goes  wrong  it  has  to  be  attended  to  immediately,  so 
that  regularity  of  hours  cannot  be  depended  on,  though  in 
a  properly  cared-for  kennel  there  should  be  little  to  interfere 
with  the  routine. 

Reading 

A  MORE  complete  idea  of  the  advantages  or  disadvantages  of 
the  career  of  a  dog-raiser  can  be  obtained  only  by  conversa- 
tion with  others  who  are  interested  in  good  dogs,  and  by  read- 
ing various  books  devoted  to  dogs.  One  of  the  classics,  al- 
though it  was  written  some  time  ago,  is  Mr.  James  Watson's 
"The  Dog  Book."  The  English  kennel  papers  often  have 
articles  of  general  interest,  while  the  ones  in  this  country 
should  be  read  in  order  to  learn  about  the  leading  breeds  and 
dogs.  Any  scientific  articles  on  animal  breeding  should  prove 
helpful.  It  should  be  remembered  that  as  a  rule  simplicity 
is  better  in  dog-raising,  and  a  successful  career  can  be  started 
with  one  good  dog  properly,  but  not  extravagantly  kept. 
Also  remember  that  if  one  wishes  to  succeed  one  should  run 
a  kennel  as  one  would  any  other  business,  on  a  basis  of  effi- 
ciency and  honesty. 


THE  DRUG-GROWER  33 

THE  DRUG-GROWER 

MARY  E.  BUCK 

Description  of  occupation 

Drug-growing  up  to  the  present  has  not  been  undertaken 
by  many  women,  though  to  my  mind  it  is  particularly  a 
"woman's  job,"  as  the  work  is  Hght,  only  occasional  day- 
labor  by  a  man  being  necessary. 

One  woman  is  able  to  care  for,  with  the  exception  of  trans- 
planting and  harvesting  in  the  fall,  one  acre  of  the  four  most 
valuable  and  profitable  plants;  namely,  ginseng,  golden  seal, 
Senega  snake  root,  and  spigelia. 

The  first  two  drugs  named  are  grown  under  a  lattice  or 
artificial  shade.  As  the  outlay  of  capital  is  comparatively 
large  in  the  business  of  drug-growing,  it  is  always  considered 
wise  to  begin  in  a  very  small  way,  gathering  experience  from 
year  to  year. 

The  only  way  in  which  to  learn  the  business  is  to  come  in 
actual  contact  with  the  cultivation  of  the  plants.  Women 
desiring  to  enter  the  business  and  afraid  to  risk  their  capital 
will  do  well  to  obtain  a  year's  experience  by  securing  work 
in  the  garden  of  an  experienced  grower  of  drugs. 

Qualifications 

To  be  successful  in  this  line  of  work  one  must  be  skillful  in  the 
cultivation  of  perennial  plants  particularly,  and  must  possess 
the  characteristics  of  a  close  observer  of  the  habits  and  dis- 
eases of  plant  life. 

Ginseng  is  subject  to  a  number  of  diseases,  while  the  three 
other  plants  I  have  mentioned  up  to  date  have  not  developed 
any  disease. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  business  of  drug-growing  is  not  overcrowded  by  any 

means.  Before  the  great  World  War,  a  large  percentage  of 


34  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

drugs  were  imported.  Golden  seal  was  almost  entirely  sup- 
plied from  Germany  at  twenty  cents  per  pound.  As  you  can 
readily  see,  the  United  States  has  been,  and  will  be  for  many 
years  to  come,  thrown  on  her  own  resources  in  the  matter  of 
drugs  as  in  many  other  products. 

The  drugs  I  have  named  grow  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  but  do  best  in  the  North,  East,  and  Middle 
States  and  Canada,  the  colder  climates  growing  the  best 
grades  of  roots. 

Financial  return 

The  present  market  for  ginseng  is  $3  to  $12  per  pound;  golden 

seal,  $5.35;  spigelia  and  Senega  snake  root,  $1  p>er  pound. 

Reading 

A  "Special  Crops"  magazine,  edited  by  C.  M.  Goodspeed, 
is  the  official  drug  publication.  Information  may  also  be 
secured  through  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Wash- 
ington, D.C. 


THE  LANDSCAPE  GARDENER 
MRS.  LOUIE  T.  VIGNOLES 
Description  of  occupation 

I  WOULD  first  of  all  like  to  specify  the  scale  of  those  who 
work  in  gardens.  Aside  from  the  laborer  who  simply  per- 
forms the  manual  work,  there  are  three  distinct  classes:  the 
gardener,  the  landscape  gardener,  and  the  landscape  architect. 

Any  man  or  woman  having  a  natural  love  for  plants  and 
outdoor  life  and  a  fair  amount  of  patience  can  become  a 
gardener.  A  landscape  gardener,  as  well  as  a  landscape  ar- 
chitect, must  have  the  qualifications  of  being  something  of 
an  artist,  with  a  keen  perception  of  the  values  of  line,  contour, 
vistas,  and  a  good  eye  for  color. 

The  work  of  the  landscape  gardener,  as  compared  with 


THE  LANDSCAPE  GARDENER  35 

that  of  the  landscape  architect,  is  more  intimate.  It  is  al- 
ways connected  with  the  immediate  surroundings  of  homes. 
The  landscape  architect,  on  the  other  hand,  would  work 
on  a  larger,  broader  scale.  City  and  park  planning  and  the 
more  substantial  and  ornamental  stone  and  masonry  work 
that  would  grace  a  large  estate  would  be  his. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  artistic  bent  and  the  seeing  eye  are  the  first  requisites 
and  a  good  high-school  or  a  college  education  are  imperative. 
To  these  may  be  added  a  pleasing  personality  and  a  certain 
forcefulness,  which  will  stand  in  good  stead  when  the  time 
comes  to  lay  out  the  plan  so  carefully  conceived  and  ex- 
ecuted in  the  studio. 

Success  in  this  work  as  well  as  in  other  occupations  does 
not  depend  wholly  on  knowledge  and  love  of  the  work.  Per- 
sonality enters  largely  into  landscape  gardening.  Personality 
is  also  a  great  asset  in  handling  contractors  and  workmen. 
The  woman  landscape  gardener  is  still  a  novelty  and  most 
workmen  object  to  having  a  woman  over  them  as  "boss." 
A  straightforward,  businesslike  demeanor  and  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  practical  work  in  connection  with  the  plan 
will  soon  win  them  over. 

Preparation  necessary 

Any  good  school  of  architecture,  which  will  give  not  only  a 
theoretical  but  a  practical  course,  should  be  chosen,  and  no 
school  should  be  entered,  however  good  its  reputation,  that 
does  not  provide  facilities  for  practical  application,  out  of 
doors,  of  plans  made  in  the  classroom.  It  is  necessary  not  only 
to  be  able  to  make  an  attractive  plan  on  paper,  but  to  have 
a  sound  working  knowledge  of  the  same.  The  Cambridge 
School  of  Architecture  and  Landscape  Design  is  now  open 
to  women.  At  Groton  there  is  an  excellent  independent 
school  of  landscape  gardening  called  the  Lowthorpe  School. 
Almost  any  of  the  state  colleges  can  furnish  courses.    At 


36  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Ambler,  Pennsylvania,  there  is  a  splendid  school  for  horti- 
culture. California,  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  United 
States,  has  sent  East  for  men  who  have  graduated  from  land- 
scape schools  in  Cambridge,  Yale,  and  Columbia  to  do  their 
work,  which  really  goes  to  prove  that  so  far  in  the  West  the 
schools  in  this  department  have  not  attained  the  perfection 
of  those  in  the  East. 

Financial  return 

As  to  remuneration,  no  one  with  the  intention  of  making 
much  money  should  enter  this  profession.  A  good  living  is  to 
be  had,  but  no  more.  Wealth  does  not  come  to  the  landscape 
gardener.  The  true  artist,  however,  will  not  permit  that  fact 
to  hinder  her  from  entering  so  delightful  an  occupation. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  fact  that  this  type  of  work  brings  one  out  of  doors  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  is  a  great  advantage.  The  work 
is  healthy  and  invigorating. 

The  disadvantages  are  the  irregularity  of  working  hours 
and  the  uncertainty  of  getting  clients.  There  is,  of  course,  a 
rest  season  and  a  dull  season,  varying  each  year.  One  year 
the  dull  season  will  be  caused  by  clients  who  call  for  tentative 
plans;  another  year  the  dull  season  may  drag  further  into  the 
spring  months  than  one  cares  to  contemplate;  another  time 
the  work  may  pile  in  so  fast  that  the  days  are  not  long 
enough  for  all  there  is  to  do. 

Reading 

The  quarterly  magazine,  "Landscape  Architecture,"  has 
many  valuable  practical  articles.  It  is  also  well  to  visit 
college  and  public  libraries  and  look  up  works  on  English  and 
Continental  gardens. 


THE  POULTRY-KEEPER  37 

THE  POULTRY-KEEPER 

MARION  PULLEY 

Description  of  occupation 

The  poultry-keeper  is  an  individual  who  produces  those 
birds  which  render  man  an  economic  service  and  which  may- 
be domesticated  to  such  an  extent  that  they  reproduce 
under  his  direction.  He  may  have  any  one  of  three  pur- 
poses in  view.  He  may  produce  poultry  for  their  economic 
value  alone;  he  may  select  birds  valuable  only  because  of 
their  appearance  and  likeness  to  a  definite  standard;  or  he 
may  combine  these  two  purposes.  Whichever  he  contem- 
plates, his  duties  will  be  many  and  varied.  The  tendency  of 
the  present  day  to  divide  any  industry  into  its  component 
parts  and  render  each  of  them  highly  specialized  has  ex- 
tended to  the  poultry  industry.  We  find  custom  hatcheries, 
day-old-chick  farms,  fattening  stations,  packing  plants,  etc., 
each  of  which  endeavors  to  become  efficient  in  some  part 
of  the  poultry  industry.  The  true  poultry-keeper,  however, 
does  the  greater  part  of  these  himself.  His  work  is  diversi- 
fied rather  than  specialized.  It  includes  the  incubation  and 
brooding  of  chicks,  the  preparation  of  the  young  birds  for 
market,  the  culling  of  his  flock,  mating,  breeding,  as  well 
as  the  routine  of  feeding  and  general  care  In  addition  it 
should  include  the  duties  of  a  general  farmer,  physician, 
and  carpenter. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Many  poultry-keepers  of  the  present  day  have  obtained  all 
their  knowledge  through  experience  and  methods  brought  to 
them  through  current  farm  literature.  The  opportunities 
are  increasing  every  day,  however,  to  learn  theory  as  well  as 
practice.  The  state  colleges  of  agriculture  throughout  the 
country  are  offering  major  courses  in  poultry  husbandry 
through  the  offices  of  well-conducted  poultry  plants.  These 


38  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

courses  vary  in  length.  The  complete  course  includes  two 
years  of  academic  work  and  two  of  poultry  work  which  en- 
titles the  graduate  to  a  B.S.  degree.  These  courses  require  a 
previous  high-school  education  with  a  certificate  of  entrance 
to  college  or  a  series  of  examinations  given  by  the  college 
at  entrance.  There  are  also  two-year  courses  which  require 
no  entrance  examinations.  The  work  of  these  courses  is  with 
poultry  and  closely  affiliated  subjects.  If  time  or  funds  do  not 
permit  that  two  years  be  devoted  to  study,  shorter  courses 
of  two  or  three  months  are  offered  in  the  winter.  These  are 
primarily  for  those  who  know  the  fundamentals  of  the  work, 
but  desire  to  learn  the  theory,  up-to-date  methods,  etc.  Most 
of  the  county  schools  at  present  are  giving  special  work  in 
poultry.  Such  schools  offer  opportunities  to  boys  and  girls 
not  of  college  age  which  the  above  courses  do  not  admit.  It 
may  be  stated,  however,  that  the  present  policy  of  these 
schools  is  not  to  admit  a  girl  to  the  poultry  courses  unless  she 
wishes  to  take  them  with  the  idea  of  becoming  a  poultry- 
keeper.  The  Ambler  School  of  Horticulture  offers  good  courses 
in  poultry  to  women. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  are  many  chances  for  women  in  this  field  at  present. 
One  must  start  in  a  small  way  to  make  the  work  a  success,  and 
if  a  woman  cares  for  it  she  can  build  up  her  own  plant  in  a 
few  years.  If  she  is  willing  to  work  for  the  experience  rather 
than  for  financial  return  for  a  few  years,  a  woman  can  handle 
a  large  poultry  plant  as  well  as  a  man.  Farm  managers  are 
beginning  to  realize  this.  I  have  found  personally  that  one 
may  become  interested  in  some  particular  phase  of  the  work 
after  she  has  become  acquainted  with  the  general  field.  For 
example,  there  is  a  growing  demand  for  incubator  specialists. 
I  think  a  woman  should  be  able  to  handle  this  work  effi- 
ciently because  of  her  natural  instinct  to  care  for  details. 
There  are  probably  more  lucrative  opportunities  in  the 
special  fields,  although  many  women  are  looking  rather  to  a 


THE  POULTRY-KEEPER  39 

small  plant  of  their  own.  The  Government  is  using  women 
now  in  its  laboratories  in  poultry  and  egg  work.  This  de- 
mands a  knowledge  of  chemistry  and  domestic  science  rather 
than  general  agriculture.  Coinmercial  packing  plants  are 
beginning  to  use  women,  and  although  the  number  now  en- 
gaged in  the  work  is  small,  a  few  years  will  doubtless  see  it 
greatly  increased. 

Financial  return 

Financial  returns  vary  considerably  with  the  phase  of  work 
undertaken.  An  inexperienced  hand  who  wished  to  work 
during  the  summer  might  get  from  $25  to  $50  per  month 
and  found.  After  the  completion  of  a  college  course  and  the 
experience  obtained  in  two  or  three  summers,  $50  to  $75 
would  be  a  fair  return.  On  a  salary  basis  managers  of  poultry 
farms  of  moderate  extent,  probably  not  exceeding  5000  or 
6000  birds,  would  draw  from  $1200  to  $2000  per  annum  with 
possibly  a  commission  on  all  sales  attached.  Government 
positions  offer  about  this  same  salary  to  start,  with  increases 
made  by  merit  or  transfer.  Commercial  propositions  are 
generally  more  lucrative  if  the  individual  can  handle  them. 
As  a  general  rule,  however,  one  does  not  become  engaged 
in  the  poultry  business  for  the  financial  return  alone,  but 
because  of  the  interest  in  the  work.  Plants  of  500  birds 
would  probably  bring  in  $600  per  annum  under  good  man- 
agement. Such  a  farm  could  be  cared  for  by  one  woman 
quite  easily  with  some  extra  help  in  the  busy  seasons. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  most  important  qualification  necessary  for  success  in 
this  work  is  a  live  interest  in  it.  If  a  woman  has  n't  that,  it 
is  a  waste  of  time  for  her  to  go  farther  with  it.  If  she  has  a 
real  interest  she  can  forget  the  long  hours  and  the  failures 
that  seem  to  come  inevitably.  She  must  also  have  an  eye  for 
details,  as  it  is  failure  to  observe  the  little  things  that  causes 
serious  errors  and  waste.  As  disease  is  one  of  the  important 


40  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

factors  in  poultry-keeping  a  woman  should  have  a  sort  of 
hen-sense.  This  enables  her  to  find  the  trouble  before  it  has 
had  a  chance  to  affect  her  birds  as  a  whole,  and  to  remedy 
the  cause.  She  should  be  persistent  in  her  efforts  and  not 
easily  discouraged.  The  skill  necessary  on  a  poultry  plant 
is  very  easily  acquired  by  women,  as  a  general  rule.  The 
routine  work  does  not  require  any  particular  technic,  and 
once  the  fundamentals  of  such  things  as  computing  rations, 
the  preparation  of  poultry  and  eggs  for  market,  etc.,  are 
learned,  the  skill  will  soon  come  through  constant  usage.  On 
the  whole,  I  think  the  average  woman  is  naturally  very  well 
prepared  to  handle  the  poultry  business. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  the  work  are  manifold.  For  an  active, 
energetic  woman  it  is  an  ideal  life.  She  is  out  of  doors  nearly 
all  day.  Food  and  living  conditions  are  what  she  wishes  to 
make  them.  Her  neighbors  are  wholesome  farm  "folks"  and 
her  general  surroundings  should  afford  her  excellent  health. 
The  opportunities  to  spend  are  lessened,  and  the  gain  on  the 
farm  may,  in  large  measure,  be  saved  because  most  of  her 
wants  are  supplied  there. 

There  are,  of  course,  disadvantages,  as  the  industry  is 
still  young  in  development.  Many  poultry  farms  are  far  out 
from  the  city  on  bad  roads.  This  makes  it  hard  to  reach  the 
market,  and,  especially  in  the  winter,  orders  must  be  made 
for  a  considerable  time  ahead.  Often  the  poultry-keeper  may 
be  confined  to  the  farm  for  weeks  during  the  bad  weather. 
The  hours  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  are  long.  In  the 
spring  one  must  work  from  daylight  until  dark  and  often  all 
one*s  waking  hours.  During  the  winter  the  hours  of  regular 
work  are  much  shorter,  but  even  then  the  spare  time  should 
be  devoted  to  making  the  spring  plans.  The  chances  of  ob- 
taining good  literature  are  rather  few,  as  most  country  li- 
braries are  not  well  stocked  along  agricultural  lines.  How- 
ever, we  are  finding  many  more  small  poultry  farms  near  the 


THE  POULTRY-KEEPER  41 

city  where  good  roads  and  street-car  service  are  in  evidence. 
This  gives  the  poultry  woman  a  chance  to  get  away  from  her 
farm  occasionally  for  a  little  recreation,  after  which  she  can 
work  much  more  efficiently. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  total  number  of  birds  found  on  farms  in  the  United 
States,  according  to  the  1910  Census,  was  295,876,176  birds. 
Of  these,  95  per  cent  were  chickens.  Eighty-eight  per  cent  of 
the  farms  in  the  United  States  reported  chickens,  while  the 
number  had  increased  20  per  cent  during  the  ten  preceding 
years.  The  national  annual  income  from  poultry  products 
was  estimated  at  $750,000,000.  "The  output  of  eggs  is 
steadily  growing,  but  the  demand  is  growing  even  faster  than 
the  supply,  due  to  the  increased  price  of  meat."  It  is  evident 
that  the  home  demand  is  being  supplied,  as  recent  import  and 
export  statistics  show  a  decrease  in  the  former  and  an  in- 
crease in  the  latter.  There  are  three  sections  of  the  country 
where  the  industry  is  greatly  specialized.  The  first  of  these 
is  a  section  including  New  England,  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Maryland.  The  second  includes  the  States  bor- 
dering on  the  Pacific.  The  third  includes  those  lying  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  The  ten  States  ranking  first  in  pro- 
duction are  Iowa,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Ohio,  Kansas,  Indiana, 
Texas,  Pennsylvania,  Minnesota,  and  New  York.  It  is  evi- 
dent from  the  above  figures  that  only  12  per  cent  of  the  farms 
in  the  United  States  do  not  report  poultry.  These  Census 
figures  do  not  include  small  flocks  in  villages  and  towns. 
There  has  been  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  these 
since  the  increase  in  the  price  of  meat.  On  the  whole,  poultry- 
keeping  on  a  small  scale  is  a  widespread  industry. 

Suggested  reading 

"Diseases  of  Poultry"  —  Pearl,  Surface,  and  Curtis. 
"Poultry  Breeding  and  Management"  —  James  Dryden. 
"Poultry  Production"  —  W.  A.  Lippincott. 


42  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Principles  and  Practices  of  Poultry  Culture"  —  J.  A.  Rob- 
inson. 
"Productive  Poultry  Husbandry"  —  H.  R.  Lewis. 

Agricultural  college  and  experiment  station  bulletins  are 
giving  out  valuable  information  which  may  be  had  by  appli- 
cation to  the  Extension  Service  or  the  Poultry  Department. 
Many  of  the  current  agricultural  publications  may  be  had 
very  reasonably.  The  "  Reliable  Poultry  Journal "  is  probably 
the  best  of  these. 


THE  STOCK-RAISER 

MRS.  EDWARD  PARKER  DAVIS 

Description  of  occupation 

The  definition  of  stock-raising  is  unlimited,  owing  to  the 
number  of  kinds  of  animals  one  has  room  to  accommodate. 
When  I  began  farming,  fourteen  years  ago,  I  had  had  a 
correspondence  course  from  the  State  College  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  also  from  the  School  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell 
Unversity. 

I  had  a  farm  of  132  acres,  and  started  with  Ayrshire  cattle, 
Percheron  horses,  Shropshire  sheep,  Berkshire  hogs,  poultry, 
and  Old  English  sheep-dogs. 

The  sheep  were  molested  by  strange  dogs,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  give  them  up  at  the  end  of  two  years,  and,  finding  that 
poultry  was  more  profitable  than  the  raising  of  hogs,  I  killed 
off  the  hogs.  I  also  found  that  for  the  market  here  the  Rhode 
Island  Red  breed  of  poultry  is  the  best,  as  near  Philadelphia 
we  like  red  eggs,  and  also  the  meat  of  the  chicken  is  excellent, 
either  caponized  or  not. 

The  actual  work  done  by  me  was  anything  and  everything 
that  my  strength  would  permit.  I  had  maids,  in  the  house, 
and  when  obtainable  three  men  under  me.  I  attempted  at 
first  having  a  farm  manager,  but  in  three  separate  cases  found 
men  hopeless,  at  any  rate,  to  work  under  a  woman. 


THE  SUPERVISOR  OF  HOME  GARDENS       43 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

As  for  opportunity  for  advancement,  I  should  say  it  was 
great,  for  women  of  education  and  perseverance,  but  there 
can  be  nothing  amateurish  in  their  make-up.  Stock-raising 
means  hard  and  often  unpleasant  work. 

Financial  return 

As  for  the  financial  return,  that  is  impossible  to  give  ac- 
curately, as  everything  depends  upon  the  crops,  the  amount 
of  food  to  be  purchased,  and  the  market  at  hand.  The  sale 
of  young  cattle  proved  the  greatest  success. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success  ^ 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  must  be  a  great  love 
of  animals,  and  ability  in  handling  employees.  Skill  comes  in 
time,  but  the  natural  love  and  patience  with  animals  must 
be  inborn. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  I  found  were  living  out  of  doors,  contact 
with  animals,  meeting  with  farmers,  and  learning  their  points 
of  view. 

The  disadvantages  were  not  "hours  of  confinement,"  but 
the  objection  to  the  class  of  laborer  I  was  obliged  to  employ, 
until  I  was  able  to  have  women.  The  farmerettes  were  of  the 
greatest  help. 

THE  SUPERVISOR  OF  HOME  GARDENS 

BBETA  W.  CHILDS 

State  Normal  School,  WorcesteVt  Mass. 

Description  of  occupation 

The  occupation  is  that  of  teaching  gardening  to  children  in 
school  and  at  the  home.  The  supervisor  is  engaged  in  assist- 
ing the  child  to  select  plants  to  grow,  in  guiding  his  activities 


44  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

during  the  production  of  the  crop,  and  in  studying  and  judg- 
ing the  results  of  the  work. 

Preparation  and  qualifications  necessary 
The  supervisor  requires  the  professional  qualifications  of  a 
teacher  in  the  graded  schools.  In  addition  to  being  skilled  in 
teaching  children  she  should  be  gifted  with  such  personal 
qualities  as  will  make  her  welcome  to  the  child's  home.  Abil- 
ity to  teach  any  one  of  the  simple  problems  in  gardening 
arising  in  the  city,  suburban,  or  town  home  is  essential. 
Therefore,  the  supervisor  should  have  much  practical  experi- 
ence in  gardening. 

Preparation  for  supervising  gardens  may  be  obtained  by 
college  graduates  in  many  of  the  State  normal  schools  and 
State  normal  colleges  of  the  United  States.  The  State  depart- 
ments of  education  can  furnish  lists  of  such  schools.  Since 
gardening  as  a  public  school  subject  is  in  its  infancy  or  entirely 
omitted  from  the  curriculum,  professional  schools  in  many 
localities  are  still  limited  in  their  ability  to  provide  oppor- 
tunities for  observation  of  expert  supervisors  and  for  practice 
teaching  in  gardening.  Assuming  that  the  college  graduate 
has  had  much  practical  experience  in  gardening,  he  needs  to 
acquire  professional  ability  in  teaching,  which  the  normal 
college  or  school  is  prepared  to  furnish. 

The  minimum  time  as  a  special  student  in  a  normal  school 
should  be  a  year.  During  this  time  a  study  may  be  made  of 
the  principles  of  education  and  practice  gained  in  the  science 
and  art  of  teaching  children.  Many  college  graduates  would 
require  more  than  a  year  of  study  to  become  successful  teach- 
ers of  children  of  elementary-school  age. 

In  preparation  for  the  work  of  supervisor  of  home  gardens 
an  undergraduate  would  do  well  to  select  general  courses  in 
ail  the  sciences  relating  to  gardening;  also  courses  in  garden- 
ing, sociology,  and  educational  psychology.  Familiarity  with 
foreign  languages  and  customs  might  make  the  supervisor  a 
greater  social  factor  in  the  child's  home.   If  undergraduate 


SUGGESTIVE  LIST  OF  VOCATIONS  45 

courses  are  given  which  bring  the  student  into  relation  with 
the  elementary  schools,  they  should  by  all  means  be  taken. 
Gardening  will  finally  take  its  place  among  the  school  sub- 
jects when  the  directors  of  schools  discover  it  is  a  valuable 
means  of  education  and  when  they  find  men  and  women 
equipped  to  teach  it. 


SUGGESTIVE  LIST  OF  VOCATIONS  FOR  WHICH 
WOMEN  MAY  BE  ADEQUATELY  TRAINED  AT 
AN  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE  ^ 

1.  Managers  or  superintendents  (on  own  estates  or  as  em- 

ployees of  others)  on: 

General  farms. 

Poultry  farms  or  departments. 

Dairy  farms  or  departments. 

Fruit  farms  or  departments. 

Vegetable  gardens. 
Florists. 
Gardeners. 

Working  foremen  in  charge  of  similar  departments  for 
estates,  private  schools  or  public  institutions. 

2.  Grade-school  teachers  of  agriculture. 
School-garden  supervisors. 
High-school,  academy,  or  college  teachers  of: 

Agriculture.     Horticulture.     Rural  social  science. 

3.  Extension  service  workers  in: 

Home  economics.  Boys'  and  girls'  clubs. 

4.  Research  workers  in  experiment  stations  and  state  and 

government  departments  of  agriculture,  in: 
Botany.  Micro-biology. 

Chemistry.  Zoology. 

Entomology. 
*  Prepared  by  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College. 


46  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

5.  Secretaries  and  office  managers  for: 

General  farms. 

Nurseries. 

Floricultural  establishments. 

6.  Landscape  gardening. 

7.  Managers  of  canning  factories. 
6.  In  rural  social  service  as: 

Lay  leaders  in  rural  communities. 

Rural-school  teachers. 

Agents  of  child-welfare  organizations. 

Agents  of  rural  recreation  associations. 

Y.W.C.A.  workers. 

Rural  journalists. 


ARCHITECTURE 

THE  ARCHITECT 

LOIS  L.  HOWE 

Description  of  occupation 

Work  in  architecture  entails  knowledge  of  architectural  and 
artistic  design,  of  construction,  of  drawing  (both  free-hand 
and  mechanical),  and  of  mathematics.  A  draftsman's  work  is 
varied  according  to  his  own  knowledge  and  skill  and  the  size 
of  the  employer's  office  and  number  of  draftsmen  employed. 
It  may  range  from  tracing  (i.e.,  mechanically  copying  an- 
other's drawing),  through  figuring  or  putting  dimensions  on 
the  same,  to  planning  the  construction,  following  sketches, 
and  eventually  planning  or  designing  either  the  whole  of  a 
piece  of  work  or  its  important  detail.  There  is  also  the 
superintending  or  looking  after  the  workmen  to  see  if  the 
work  is  properly  done.  This  would  not  come  to  a  draftsman 
until  after  long  experience. 

Training  recommended 

Many  years  of  training  are  necessary.  Opinions  of  the  best 
architects  vary  as  to  the  best  method  of  obtaining  this;  some 
advocating  study  in  a  technical  school;  others,  apprenticeship 
in  an  office.  In  favor  of  the  latter  plan  it  may  be  said  that  a 
certain  amount  of  apprenticeship  is  necessary,  at  any  rate, 
and  must  follow  the  former;  however,  it  must  be  said  that  the 
technical  school  gives  opportunities  for  all-around  training 
and  studies  outside  of,  but  yet  germane  to,  the  subject,  which 
the  apprentice  would  find  it  hard  to  get  or  to  find  the  time  to 
study.  It  resolves  itself  more  or  less  into  the  general  question 
of  desirability  of  college  education  as  a  fitting  for  life. 

Any  draftsman  pursuing  the  apprenticeship  plan  may  begin 


48  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

very  young  as  office  assistant,  learning  to  trim  tracings,  bind 
plans,  and  gradually  absorbing  minor  details  of  the  office  rou- 
tine, or  may  take  elementary  courses  in  school  which  would 
serve  as  preparation.  The  technical  school  gives  regular 
courses  of  three  or  four  years*  duration,  and  starts  a  student 
later  in  life,  but  with  an  equipment  which  should  go  far  to 
counteract  the  disadvantages  of  that  delay  by  enabling  the 
possessor  to  grasp  sooner  the  salient  features  of  the  new  work. 
It  has  been  customary  in  the  past  to  take  apprentices  with 
no  wages  while  they  are  learning  to  be  of  use.  In  any  event 
the  salaries  would  be  small  in  the  beginning,  as  much  educa- 
tion goes  with  the  work  and  it  is  some  time  before  a  draftsman 
becomes  worth  more  than  what  he  learns.  Six  dollars  per  week 
was  a  good  wage  for  a  beginner  before  the  war.  There  is 
always,  however,  a  future,  and  a  draftsman  may  rise  to  $50 
per  week  or  more. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  architect  is  a  combination  of  artist  and  engineer,  and  as 
such  should  possess  artistic  taste,  talent  for  drawing,  interest 
in  construction,  and  practical  ingenuity.  Added  to  this,  for 
all-round  success,  he  should  have  practical  business  capacity. 
A  simple  interest  in  architecture  or  love  of  study  of  its  history, 
even  an  interest  in  planning,  is  not  evidence  of  a  genuine 
"leading"  or  vocational  aptitude. 

Financial  return 

As  a  means  of  livelihood  for  a  woman,  architecture  is  precari- 
ous and  unadvisable,  unless  she  has  wonderful  natural  capac- 
ity combined  with  a  great  tenacity  of  purpose,  to  which  may 
be  added  exceptional  opportunities.  The  reason  for  this  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  opening  for  women  is  small;  in  Boston  and 
many  other  large  cities  there  is  still  a  prejudice  against  em- 
ploying women  in  the  most  desirable  offices  (desirable  because 
doing  the  best  work).  This  prejudice  is  so  great  as  to  make  it 
almost  impossible  for  a  woman  to  learn  her  trade  there.   In 


THE  ARCHITECT  49 

New  York  the  prejudice  is  less,  and  in  many  Western  cities 
a  woman  may  do  very  well. 

Specialties 

There  are  certain  departments  of  practice  in  which  a  well- 
trained  woman  might  succeed.  These  are  specialties.  Fine 
lettering  is  always  needed  in  an  office,  or  a  capacity  for  making 
perspectives,  either  exterior  or  interior,  and  "rendering" 
them;  i.e.,  coloring  them  attractively.  A  woman  who  could 
do  this  might  get  much  to  do,  but  those  who  can  make  an 
artistic  sketch  are  usually  not  fond  enough  of  the  mechanical 
side  of  it  to  make  the  exact  drawing.  In  the  matter  of  interior 
decoration  there  should  also  be  a  field  for  women,  but  at  pres- 
ent few,  if  any,  architects'  offices  keep  any  one  who  attends 
solely  to  that  side  of  the  question.  Her  chance  here  would  be 
to  work  with  some  decorator,  where  her  knowledge  of  mechan- 
ical drawing  and  architectural  detail  might  be  used  to  good 
purpose. 

Training 

Among  the  best  technical  schools  admitting  women  is  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  in  Cambridge.  The 
course  at  Cornell  University  at  Ithaca  is  also  open  to  women 
and  that  at  Columbia  in  New  York  City.  There  is  also  at 
Cambridge  a  school  for  women  only,  known  as  the  Cam- 
bridge School  of  Domestic  Architecture  and  Landscape  Arch- 
itecture. The  Massachusetts  Normal  Art  School  in  Boston 
gives  training  in  architectural  drafting,  but  does  not  give  a 
complete  course  in  architecture. 

A  woman  wishing  to  take  the  work  as  a  post-graduate 
course  should  specialize  while  in  college  on  fine  arts,  particu- 
larly free-hand  drawing  and  the  history  of  architecture  and 
art.   Courses  in  mathematics  would  also  be  advisable. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  the  work  are  many.   It  is  constructive; 

it  is  interesting  in  itself,  having  possibilities  of  infinite  variety 


50  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

and  constantly  shifting  interests;  contact  with  people  of  all 
kinds  and  classes;  opportunities  frequently  of  travel;  but  Hke 
all  professions  there  will  occur  moments  of  drudgery;  for  the 
beginners,  long  tedious  hours  in  the  office  tracing  uninterest- 
ing things;  for  the  trained  architect,  difficult  clients,  bothering 
contractors,  labor  troubles,  financial  worries. 


THE  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT 
ANNA  BIDDLE  FRLSHMUTH 

Description  of  occupation 

The  following  is  an  outline  of  study  covered  by  landscape 
architecture:  design  planting  plans,  engineering,  horticul- 
ture, including  knowledge  of  trees,  shrubs  and  perennials, 
general  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  insect  pests,  agronomy 
or  chemistry  of  soils,  architectural  design  and  its  proper  appli- 
cation, construction  covering  road  paths,  grades,  and  drain- 
age, a  clear  conception  of  business  methods,  and  practical 
ability  to  apply  the  above  knowledge. 

The  actual  work  done  by  landscape  architects  includes  de^ 
signing  of  private  estates,  educational  work  in  teaching  agri- 
culture and  horticulture,  directing  gardens,  demonstrating  of 
increased  food  production. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

One  must  have  as  a  background  such  knowledge  as  is  given  at 
the  Lowthorpe  School  of  Landscape  Architecture  for  Women 
at  Groton,  Massachusetts.  The  Educational  Bureau,  Wash- 
ington, D.C.,  has  a  list  of  schools  and  colleges  giving  land- 
scape, horticultural,  and  agricultural  training  for  women, 
with  ratings  of  each.  The  length  of  training  demands  three 
to  four  years  of  post-graduate  work.  Algebra,  solid  geometry, 
trigonometry,  logarithms,  are  essentials.  The  entrance  re- 
quirements for  these  schools  are  equivalent  to  a  high-school 
training. 


THE  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT      51 

Courses  advisable  to  take  while  an  undergraduate  in  art 
are  charcoal  perspective,  free-hand  sketching,  water-color 
designing;  in  mechanical  drafting,  elevations,  rendering;  in 
engineering,  elementary  engineering,  slide  rule,  transit  and 
field  work,  mapping,  interpolating  contours,  enough  to  give 
thorough  knowledge  of  engineers*  plans,  cross-sections  and 
profile  of  roads,  drainage  and  construction  of  drives,  roads, 
walks,  walls  and  pools;  in  mathematics,  geometry,  trigonome- 
try, logarithms  are  not  essential,  but  are  of  great  value;  also 
Latin,  English  composition,  and  knowledge  of  practical  busi- 
ness methods.  One  must  also  have  horticultural  training, 
botany,  also  structural  botany,  identification  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  winter  and  summer,  pomology.  Practical  training 
along  above  lines  is  necessary  to  add  to  theoretical  training. 
Also  elementary  entomology,  sprays,  insecticides  and  fungi- 
cides, is  needed. 

Financial  return 

The  following  is  compiled  from  Lowthorpe  students : 

Of  information  received  from  30  members,  the  following 
data  are  found  on  "income  figures": 

One  year's  practicing  or  under:  three  under  $800;  one, 
$800-$1500. 

Two  years'  practicing:  one,  $1500-$2500;  one,  $800- 
$1500;  four  under  $800. 

Three  years'  practicing:  one,  $800-$1500;  one  under  $800. 

Four  years'  practicing  and  over:  two,  $1500-$2500;  four 
$800-$1500;  one  under  $800. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Love  of  art  or  horticulture,  a  pleasing  personality,  and  ready 
adaptability  to  varied  lines  of  thought  are  necessary.  Draw- 
ing, accuracy,  imagination,  broad  vision,  appreciation  of 
values,  knowledge  of  light  and  shade  and  proportion,  atten- 
tion to  detail  and  ability  to  know  and  combine  all  in  a  sym- 
metrical unit;  physical  abihty  to  stand  this  work,  as  it  in- 


5«  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

volves  much  manual  labor  while  learning;  an  ability  to  direct 
laborers  and  direct  and  meet  practical  workers,  such  as  con- 
tractors, and  ability  to  hold  the  confidence  of  chents  are 
essential  factors  for  success. 

Pisadvantages  and  advantages 

The  disadvantages  are  confinement,  drafting  long  hours  at 
a  time,  long  hours  of  work  in  short  periods  of  time  in  spring 
and  fall  due  to  the  seasonal  nature  of  the  work.  The  chief 
advantages  are  contacts  with  people  and  nature. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  demand  is  greater  than  supply  in  all  sections  of  the 
country  and  branches  of  the  work.  There  are  approximately 
250  women  engaged  in  this  field  of  work  in  the  United  States. 

Suggested  reading 

It  is  best  to  obtain  Hsts  from  college  libraries  that  have  Land- 
scape Architecture  in  their  curricula,  such  as  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, Urbana  College,  Ilhnois,  and  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College  at  Amherst,  Massachusetts. 


THE  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT 

ELIZABETH  PATTEE 

Description  of  occupation 

The  profession  of  landscape  architecture  is  one  that  is  inter- 
esting and  diversified  in  that  its  aim  is  so  to  use  the  imagina- 
tion and  abilities  that  the  beauties  and  charms  of  nature  can 
be  appropriately  linked  with  the  formal  creations  of  men 
which  we  call  architecture.  The  landscape  architect  must 
carefully  study  his  problem,  first  on  the  site  itself,  examining 
all  the  natural  conditions,  and  then  on  paper  in  the  office, 
working  out  to  a  practical  solution  his  conception  of  the 


THE  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT      53 

problem.  Throughout  its  course  the  work  will  be  divided 
between  the  indoor  work  of  studying  the  plans  and  the  out- 
door work  of  inspection,  supervision,  and  planting. 

Preparation 

The  training  of  a  landscape  architect  should  be  composed  of 
the  artistic  studies  of  architectural  and  landscape  architec- 
tural design,  drawing,  perspective,  etc.,  and  the  scientific 
studies  of  botany,  horticulture,  plant  material,  surveying., 
and  construction. 

Following  is  a  list  of  colleges  and  schools  which  offer 
courses  in  landscape  architecture  to  women:  Cornell  Uni- 
versity; University  of  Illinois;  Lowthorpe  School  of  Land- 
scape Architecture  for  Women,  Groton,  Massachusetts  (ex- 
cellent training  in  the  knowledge  and  use  of  plant  mate- 
rial); Cambridge  School  of  Architecture  and  Landscap)e 
architecture,  for  Women,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts;  Uni- 
versity of  California.  Several  excellent  schools  of  landscape 
architecture,  such  as  that  at  Harvard,  are  not  accessible  to 
women. 

The  above-mentioned  schools  are  not  post-graduate,  and 
the  courses  vary  from  three  to  four  years.  Any  one  desiring 
to  take  a  collegiate  course  before  studying  landscape  archi- 
tecture should  take  some  or  all  of  such  courses  as  history  of 
architecture,  art,  free-hand  drawing,  botany,  trigonometry, 
and  mechanical  drawing. 

The  ideal  education  for  a  landscape  architect  is  first  to  fit 
himself  in  the  profession  of  architecture  by  training  at  an 
architectural  school,  such  as  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  Columbia,  and  Cornell,  all  of  which  are  open  to 
women.  This  should  be  followed  by  the  studies  more  par- 
ticularly needed  in  the  practice  of  landscape  architecture. 
This  gives  the  student  the  most  comprehensive  idea  of  design 
and  fits  him  to  produce  in  his  work  a  feeling  of  unity  between 
buildings  and  their  surroundings,  without  which  no  good  work 
is  possible. 


M  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  returns 

Most  persons  taking  up  such  a  profession  as  landscape  archi- 
tecture have  in  their  minds  the  intention  of  ultimately  carry- 
ing on  their  own  business.  This  is  perfectly  possible  for  any 
one  with  sufficient  theoretical  training  and  some  practical 
experience  obtained  by  working  in  a  landscape  architect's 
office  for  several  years.  Many  who  are  fortunate  enough  to 
work  up  a  clientele,  start  in  for  themselves  in  a  small  way 
immediately  after  completing  their  training. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  profession  of  landscape 
architecture  is  a  remunerative  one,  in  the  sense  of  large 
financial  returns.  A  good,  comfortable  living  should  be  made 
by  any  capable  person,  and  of  course  there  are  always  those 
who  can  make  a  particular  success  in  any  career.  Any  one 
newly  starting  out  as  a  draftsman  in  an  office  would  not,  at 
first,  receive  more  than  a  living  wage  ($15  to  $20  per  week), 
and  probably  the  salary  would  not  amount  to  more  than  $30 
per  week  for  several  years.  By  that  time  a  woman  would 
doubtless  have  branched  off  into  business  for  herself.  In  the 
Eastern  States  there  is  still  a  considerable  prejudice  against 
women  draftsmen,  both  in  architectural  and  landscape  archi- 
tectural offices,  but  this  will  eventually  be  overcome. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Any  one  desiring  to  take  up  landscape  architecture  as  a  pro- 
fession should  have  a  keen  appreciation  and  love  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  nature.  This  is  essential.  Naturally  it  is  a  great  help  if 
she  has  always  studied  and  worked  with  plants  and  flowers. 
Accurate  knowledge  of  the  plants  and  their  use  in  planting 
can  be  obtained  by  study  and  work  with  them,  as  can  the 
imagination  be  greatly  stimulated  by  the  study  of  design. 
Skill  in  drafting  is  something  which  can  be  acquired  by  prac- 
tice, and  at  best  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  tool  for  the  ex- 
pression of  the  imagination. 

Although  the  profession  is  not  one  by  which  to  become  rich, 
it  has  many  advantages  that  cannot  be  measured  by  finan- 


THE  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT      55 

cial  returns.  One  leams  to  appreciate  and  take  pleasure  in 
many  things  in  life  that  exist  all  about,  and  one's  vision 
and  understanding  of  all  the  other  arts  is  greatly  increased. 
A  very  great  asset  to  be  considered  is  the  large  amount  of 
out-of-door  work  involved  and  its  healthful  results. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  indoors  is  taken  up  with  the  making  of  plans.  The 
busy  times  in  the  oflSce  are  necessarily  governed  by  the  two 
planting  seasons,  spring  and  autumn.  The  indoor  work  pre- 
cedes these,  as  the  designs  must  be  made  before  the  plans  can 
be  carried  out.  The  disadvantage  of  the  profession  is  the 
concentration  of  work  into  rush  seasons  in  spring  and  fall, 
followed  by  slacker  times  in  winter  and  midsummer.  To 
some  this  woiild  appeal  as  an  advantage. 

Supply  and  demand 

Landscape  architectural  work  is  carried  on  all  over  the 
country,  though,  of  course,  concentrating  in  the  centers  of 
greater  wealth,  since  the  demand  for  it  is  the  outcome  of  a 
more  settled  life,  and  a  desire  for  art  and  culture.  In  the  past 
the  East  has  been  the  principal  field  for  this  work,  but  from 
now  on  the  West  will  probably  offer  more  opportimities.  So 
far,  the  field  has  not  been  overcrowded,  as  landscape  archi- 
tecture has  only  been  recognized  as  a  profession  for  a  com- 
paratively few  years.  A  number  of  women  are  engaged  in  the 
work,  whose  standing  in  the  profession  is  well  recognized. 
There  is  a  good  opening  for  women,  and  they  seem  to  be  es- 
pecially adapted  to  become  good  planters;  that  is,  proficient 
in  the  selection  of  plant  material,  something  which  at  the 
present  time  and  in  this  country  is  not  emphasized  enough. 

Suggested  reading 

Kemp's  "Landscape  Gardening,"  revised  by  Waugh. 
"Theory  and  Practice  of  Landscape  Architecture"  —  H. 
Repton. 


56  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Landscape  Gardening"  —  Downing. 

"Charles  Eliot,  Landscape  Architect"  —  C.  W.  Eliot. 

"Garden  Craft  in  Europe"  —  H.  Inigo  Triggs. 

"Town  Planning  in  Practice"  —  R.  Unwin. 

"An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Landscape  Design"  — 

H.  V.  Hubbard  and  Theodora  Kimball. 
"English  Pleasure  Gardens"  —  Rose  Nichols. 
"Art  Out-of-Doors"  —  M.  S.  Van  Rensselaer. 


/ 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 

y 

DESIGNING,  A  VOCATION  FOR  COLLEGE  WOMEN 

FLORENCE  McGOWAN 

Designer,  Joseph  A.  Morris  &  Company,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

The  question  of  clothes  is  one  that  has  perpetual  fascination 
for  women.  There  are  many  things  connected  with  design- 
ing —  which,  briefly,  is  nothing  more  than  putting  this  nat- 
ural interest  in  planning  models  for  gowns  and  frocks  on  a 
professional  basis  —  that  should  make  it  unusually  attractive 
for  college  women  who  are  trying  to  decide  on  a  vocation. 
Many  girls  are  skillful  with  the  needle  by  instinct  and  a?s  a 
result  of  careful  home  training,  and  if  their  general  inclination 
is  toward  designing  attractive  things  to  wear  for  themselves 
and  their  friends,  they  can  be  reasonably  safe  in  assuming 
that  they  will  enjoy  the  work  as  a  profession. 

In  a  large  manufacturing  establishment  the  designer's 
tasks  consist  of  planning  the  model  for  a  garment  in  detail 
and  doing  everything  in  the  way  of  preparation  for  the  actual 
making  of  it.  The  designer's  work  depends  in  part  upon  the 
size  and  grade  of  house  where  she  is  employed,  upon  the  num- 
ber of  sample  hands  she  has  to  assist  her  in  carrying  out  her 
ideas,  and  upon  the  number  of  models  she  is  expected  to 
turn  out  each  week.  The  designer  must  know  how  to  do  the 
actual  work  before  she  can  explain  it  to  her  sample  hand. 
Sometimes  she  drapes  and  cuts  the  material  and  then  gives 
it  to  a  sample  hand  to  finish;  or  she  will  make  a  sketch  of  it 
and  carefully  supervise  the  model  while  it  is  being  made. 

The  woman  who  goes  into  this  work  will  find  that  it  re- 
quires being  always  on  the  alert  for  new  ideas  and  being  quick 
to  put  these  ideas  into  execution.  The  most  artistic  and 
original  model  that  one  can  imagine  has  but  little  value  to 


68  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  manufacturer  if  some  one  else  gets  it  on  the  market  be- 
fore he  does.  In  executing  her  design  there  are  many  things 
she  must  keep  in  mind.  If  she  makes  a  sketch  it  must  be 
practical  so  that  her  assistants  can  carry  out  the  idea  readily. 
She  must  keep  within  a  cost  limit,  since  houses  usually  spe- 
cialize on  a  certain  priced  gown  that  will  meet  the  require- 
ments of  their  customers.  Very  often  she  is  called  upon  to  do 
without  the  extra  half -yard  of  lace  or  ribbon  which  makes  the 
wholesale  cost  of  the  gown  prohibitive  for  profit.  Adaptabil- 
ity, therefore,  is  one  of  the  characteristics  she  must  possess. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

But  in  order  to  succeed  she  should  have  many  other  natural 
qualifications  for  the  work  such  as  good  taste,  originality, 
imagination,  keen  sense  of  color,  and  courage  to  carry  out  her 
own  ideas.  Good  taste  will  be  revealed  both  in  the  color  com- 
binations effected  and  in  the  line  and  general  idea  of  the  cos- 
tume. Some  of  it  is  acquired  by  experience  and  years  of  train- 
ing, but  no  amount  of  time  spent  on  designs  will  be  of  any 
help  unless  the  girl  has  a  feeling  for  the  thing  she  is  trying  to 
do.  In  other  words,  she  must  be  an  artist  fully  as  much  as 
the  one  who  works  with  brush,  pencil,  and  paint. 

Preparation  necessary 

Usually  schools  of  design  require  one  year  for  training.  Two 
years  are  better,  because  that  length  of  time  permits  of  longer 
courses  in  drawing  and  art.  Practically  every  large  city  has 
some  technical  or  semi-technical  school  which  offers  at  least 
elementary  classes  in  designing.  Pratt  Institute,  in  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  and  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New 
York  City,  are  among  the  best  and  most  popular  schools  for 
this  purpose  in  the  country. 

The  student  will  profit  by  thorough  courses  in  historical 
costumes,  sketching,  drawing,  and  French.  The  French  lan- 
guage will  be  very  useful  to  her  if  she  is  sent  abroad;  besides, 
many  of  the  best  fashion  magazines  are  published  in  Paris  in 


DESIGNING  59 

the  French  language.  In  addition,  her  general  reading  will 
comprise  the  leading  fashion  magazines  of  this  country,  in 
which,  if  she  is  successful,  sketches  of  her  own  models  will 
often  appear. 

Financial  return 

Few  vocations  compare  with  designing  in  the  financial  re- 
turns they  offer.  By  proper  application  to  her  tasks,  the  young 
girl  who  starts  as  an  apprentice  at  $25  a  week  can  advance 
rapidly  if  she  possesses  the  necessary  initiative.  In  general, 
the  maximum  salary  of  designers  to-day  is  approximately 
$200  or  $250  a  week. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

There  are  disadvantages  and  handicaps,  to  be  sure,  in  this 
line  of  work  as  well  as  in  all  others.  To  the  girl  who  does  not 
like  a  large  city,  it  can  holdout  but  few  inducements,  since  there 
is  practically  no  demand  for  designers  in  small  towns.  Then, 
too,  at  first  it  requires  working  more  or  less  under  factory 
conditions,  where  the  noise  of  machines  is  fatiguing  at  times, 
but  much  of  this  can  be  overcome  through  proper  adjustments. 
To  offset  the^e  disadvantages,  the  position  has  many  at- 
tractive phases.  Head  designers  usually  have  an  opportimity 
to  go  abroad,  to  Paris,  once  a  year  or  oftener,  and  this  natu- 
rally is  alluring  to  the  girl  who  enjoys  traveling.  The  daily 
routine  is  not  confining  since  about  one  third  of  the  time  is 
spent  away  from  the  shop.  To  get  new  ideas  for  frocks  and 
gowns,  designers  frequent  places  where  wealthy  women, 
arrayed  in  the  latest  fashions,  gather,  such  as  dances,  the 
opening  nights  at  operas  and  theaters,  and  the  best  hotels  at 
luncheons,  teas,  and  dinners.  Large  houses  allow  designers  an 
expense  account  for  purposes  like  these  and  the  returns  always 
more  than  justify  the  expense.  Few  women  earning  their  own 
living  can  enjoy  so  many  luxuries  as  do  designers,  or  have 
similar  opportunities  for  seeing  the  most  briUiant  social  life 
in  the  largest  cities  in  the  world. 


60  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  designers  seems  to  be  increasing  rather  than 
diminishing.  The  manufacture  of  gowns  and  dresses  for  the 
wholesale  and  retail  trade  has  been  very  lucrative  of  late  and 
new  establishments  with  positions  to  offer  have  been  spring- 
ing up  rapidly  in  New  York  City  the  past  few  years.  'One 
needs  but  look  through  the  "want  ad"  columns  of  the  daily 
papers,  or  a  trade  paper  like  "Women's  Wear,"  to  be  con- 
vinced that  manufacturers  are  constantly  on  the  lookout  for 
good  and  original  designers  and  are  willing  to  pay  high  salaries 
to  those  who  can  command  them. 


THE  DIRECT  COLOR  PHOTOGRAPHER 

HENRIETTA  HUDSON 

Member  Royal  Photographic  Society,  Technical  Group,  Great  Britain 

Description  of  occupation 

Before  selecting  direct  color  photography  as  a  vocation,  it 
is  imperative  to  have  one's  eyes  tested  as  to  their  color  vision, 
as  a  correct  color  eye  and  color  sense  spell  success,  and  the 
lack,  disheartening  failure.  It  is  a  delightfully  fascinating 
vocation  for  many  reasons,  among  them  the  important  one  of 
being  brought  in  contact  with  the  people  who  are  doing  worth- 
while work.  It  can  be  used  as  an  adjunct  to  the  many  pro- 
fessions where  color  data  —  that  is  to  say,  correct  color 
registry  —  is  of  importance,  such  as  in  medicine,  chemistry, 
astronomy,  agriculture,  botany.  So  much  for  the  professions. 
Artistically,  it  can  be  employed  as  a  side  issue  in  the  photo- 
graphic studio  as  a  means  of  portraiture,  or  copying  paint- 
ings, or  taking  gardens  and  interiors  in  colors.  In  the  artist's 
studio  it  is  valuable  for  making  illustrative  designs  for  ad- 
vertising purposes;  in  museums  it  can  be  used  for  copying  rare 
collections  of  jewels,  pottery,  tapestry,  and  paintings;  for 
cataloguing  and  exchange  purposes  among  the  various  mu- 
seums, when  a  black-and-white  photograph  would  be  inad- 
equate to  express  the  color  data. 


THE  DIRECT  COLOR  PHOTOGRAPHER         61 

Everywhere  that  color  rendering  is  essential,  direct  color 
photography  can  and  will  be  more  and  more  employed,  as 
new  and  better  methods  for  the  perfect  rendering  of  color 
photographically  are  discovered. 

The  most  interesting  branch  of  this  vocation  is  along  the 
lines  of  research  work,  as  it  gives  the  chance  of  seeking  and 
perhaps  finding  a  perfect  process  for  movies  in  color,  or  a 
way  of  photographically  printing  in  colors  on  paper. 

This  is  a  mere  outline  of  the  possibilities  of  direct  color  pho- 
tography. All  the  things  specified  are  things  I  have  done  person- 
ally, successfully,  even  to  experimental  X-ray  work  in  colors. 
The  specialist  in  this  vocation  must  have  wide  interests  and 
a  keen  understanding  of  the  needs  of  the  various  professions, 
and  any  student,  by  including  a  knowledge  of  direct  color  pho- 
tography, can  add  an  extra  power  to  her  professional  vocation. 

The  manipulation  of  the  direct  color  photographic  plate 
is  a  simple  matter,  most  easily  acquired,  the  essential  dark 
room  with  an  inexpensive  equipment  amply  adequate.  There 
is  no  method  of  printing  in  colors  photographically  at  present 
available,  but  several  are  promised  for  the  near  future.  The 
training  needed  would  be  along  photographic  lines,  for  use  in 
the  photographic  or  art  studio;  for  research  work  the  study 
of  color  and  chemistry  must  be  added  to  the  photographic 
training;  whereas  should  illustrative  advertising  be  under- 
taken, then  a  knowledge  of  the  various  photo-mechanical  proc- 
esses for  the  reproduction  of  color  by  the  half-tone  process  is 
essential,  as  a  direct  color  photograph  intended  for  repro- 
duction purposes  must  have  a  different  quality. 

Advantages 

It  is  a  delightful  vocation  for  a  woman  as  it  takes  the  worker 
much  out  of  doors  and  among  charming  people.  I  would  not 
advise  the  purely  photographic  worker  to  confine  herself  ex- 
clusively to  direct  color  work,  as  at  present  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient demand  nor  understanding  to  bring  in  an  adequate 
financial  return  for  the  outlay  of  brains  and  capital  required 


e2  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

to  do  good  work.  The  research  worker,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  perforce  spend  many  hom-s  in  the  dark  room  and  add 
hours  of  study  to  the  hours  of  practical  work.  Still  the  op- 
portunities for  advancement  are  greatest  in  research  work,  as 
new  worlds  or  new  germs  or  new  methods  of  color  expression 
may  be  discovered  by  those  with  the  essential  qualifications: 

A  CORRECT  COLOR  EYE  AND  COLOR  SENSE. 

Supply  and  demand 

Few  are  in  this  field  of  work,  as  the  photographic  expression 
of  color  is  still  in  its  infancy,  though  in  the  last  few  years  many 
efforts  have  been  made  to  solve  the  problem  and  progress  has 
been  made  toward  its  solution. 

The  two  best-known  direct  color  photographic  plates  are 
the  Lumiere  Autochrome  and  the  Paget  Color  Plate,  each 
with  its  own  special  virtues.  The  autochrome  is  technically 
simple  to  manipulate,  with  a  correct  color  scale,  in  the  proper 
hands,  available  in  small  and  large  sizes;  the  Paget  exquis- 
itely clear  and  projectible  for  lantern  slide  work,  and  suitable 
only  in  the  smaller  sizes. 

Financial  return 

Direct  color  photography  being  an  individual  profession  or 
vocation,  the  financial  return  for  labor  expended  rests  en- 
tirely upon  the  individual ;  to  some  it  brings  fame  and  money, 
to  others  just  work  and  a  living  wage.  In  both  cases  it  should 
bring  contentment. 

Reading 

Innumerable  books  have  been  written  and  published  on 
the  various  theories  and  methods  of  expressing  color  photo- 
graphically, but  the  greater  part  are  out  of  print  and  are  not 
usually  to  be  found  in  our  libraries.  Of  those  available,  sev- 
eral are  in  foreign  languages  and  have  not  been  translated. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  give  a  complete  list  here,  but  I  am 
adding  a  short  one.  The  advanced  worker  will  search  for  the 
others  herself. 


THE  GARDEN  PHOTOGRAPHER  63 

"Handbooks  on  Autochrome  Color  Photography"  —  Lu- 
miere.    (R.  J.  Fitzsimons.  New  York.) 

Paget  Color  Plates  (Paget  Method),  issued  free  by  the  manu- 
facturers. 

"Color  Photography"  — R.  James  Wallace.  The  Photo- 
Miniature  Series  No.  38.  48  pp.  diagrams.   1902. 

"Color  Photography"  —  George  E.  Brown.  Photo-Miniature 
Series  No.  128.  42  pp.  diagrams.   1913. 

"All  About  Color  Photography"  —  George  E.  Brown. 
Photo-Miniature  Series  No.  147.  44  pp.  diagrams.  1916. 

"Photography  in  Colors"  —  G.  E.  Johnson.  240  pp.  illus. 
London  (3d  ed.).  1916. 

"Natural  Color  Photography  "  —  E.  Koenig  and  E.  J.  Wall. 
92  pp.  illus.  London.   1892. 

"Three  Color  Photography"  —  A.  Von  Hubl.  148  pp.  illus. 
London  (about  1890). 

"Color  Photography."  A  quarterly  supplement  to  "The 
British  Journal  of  Photography,"  begun  in  1907  and 
still  being  pubhshed.  Edited  by  George  E.  Brown;  Lon- 
don.— This  is  the  most  valuable  single  work  on  the  sub- 
ject and  ii^ludes  a  summary  of  all  known  methods. 

"Color  Photography."  See  the  lengthy  papers  in  Wall's 
Dictionary  of  Photography,  London,  1907.  CasselFs  Cy- 
clopedia of  Photography,  London,  1910.  Woodbury's 
Encyclopedia  of  Photography,  New  York,  1900. 


THE  GARDEN  PHOTOGRAPHER 

JESSIE  TARBOX  BEALS 

Description  of  occupation 

A  NEW  and  practically  untried  field  is  open  for  women  in  the 
line  of  garden  photography.  Women  are  natural  makers  and 
lovers  of  gardens,  and  the  desire  to  have  them  perpetuated 
is  a  very  real  chance  for  other  women  who,  having  no  gardens 
of  their  own,  love  them  as  belonging  to  their  more  fortunate 


64  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

sisters,  and  learn  how  to  make  blossoms  last  all  the  year  aromid 
by  taking  beautiful  photographs. 

It  is  more  than  a  fad.  It  is  a  vocation  that  calls  for  the 
highest  ingenuity,  for  a  capacity  for  earnest  work,  a  knowl- 
edge of  color,  color  values,  of  composition,  of  business  prin- 
ciples, and  every  other  natural  capabiHty. 

With  the  field  as  big  as  it  is,  as  far  as  I  know  there  are  only 
three  or  four  specialists  in  this  line  in  this  country,  and  their 
services  are  in  great  demand.  You  hear  of  them  as  being 
called  to  Florida  to  photograph  a  great  estate  involvings 
perhaps,  three  hundred  negatives,  or  to  California,  or  to 
Europe. 

Most  of  the  garden  photographs  seen  in  the  magazines 
show  that  the  work  was  done  by  people  without  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  pictorial  qualities  that  are  so  necessary  to  the 
successful  garden  photograph.  Changing  the  position  of  the 
camera  only  a  few  feet  makes  all  the  difference  between  medi- 
ocrity and  a  picture  charming  enough  to  be  framed.  The 
knowledge  of  where  to  put  your  camera,  whether  you  under- 
stand the  principles  of  composition  or  not,  is  one  of  the  neces- 
sities in  this  business. 

It  is  usually  necessary  to  understand,  in  connection  with 
garden  work,  how  to  take  artistic  photographs  of  houses, 
both  exterior  and  interior,  so  that  a  complete  album  can  be 
made  showing  everything  about  the  estate.  This  frequently 
includes  portraits  of  the  customer's  family,  especially  the 
children,  in  the  garden,  perhaps  with  their  domestic  pets  or 
live  stock,  so  that  one  needs  to  have  quite  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  other  than  this  single  branch  of  garden  photography. 

Preparation  necessary 

There  are  no  schools  that  make  a  point  of  teaching  this 
branch  of  photography.  In  talking  the  matter  over  with 
Clarence  White,  the  head  of  his  own  school,  he  said: 

"I  can  teach  only  the  fundamentals  of  photography  in  the 
limited  course  pursued  by  my  pupils.  They  learn  how  to  use 


THE  GARDEN  PHOTOGRAPHER  65 

the  tools  of  their  trade;  the  camera,  lenses,  chemicals,  the 
materials  to  produce  a  finished  picture,  the  principles  of  light. 
Then  we  take  up  the  simple  principles  of  art,  including  com- 
position, perspective,  color,  form,  mass.  Then  they  are  given 
certain  problems  to  work  out  in  portraiture,  both  indoors  and 
out,  still  Ufe,  landscapes,  etc. 

"  In  order  to  carry  out  the  teaching  of  outdoor  portraiture 
in  our  school  in  the  country,  we  built  a  garden  with  the  help 
of  the  pupils,  so  that  they  might  see  the  possibilities  of  va- 
rious arrangements  as  accessories  for  their  sitters;  why  a  cer- 
tain shaped  saphng  might  be  used  in  one  composition,  why  a 
mass  of  shrubbery  might  conform  with  another  sitter's  per- 
sonality. But  no  definite  instruction  is  given  along  the  lines 
of  garden  photography.  With  the  fundamentals  instilled  in 
the  mind  any  branch  of  the  business  that  interests  the  pupil 
maybe  carried  out,  whether  portraiture,  architectural  photog- 
raphy, garden  photography,  commercial  or  other  work." 

One  of  the  best  ways  to  gain  a  quick  working  knowledge  of 
any  branch  of  photography,  and  this  particularly  applies  to 
the  garden  end  of  it,  would  be  to  try  to  gain  admittance  to 
the  studio  of  one  of  the  specialists  in  this  fine  of  work,  as  an 
apprentice,  paying  a  fee  for  it,  of  course,  and  in  this  way  get- 
ting right  into  the  heart  of  things  by  practical  work  through 
the  garden  season.  It  may  be  difficult  to  gain  this  permission, 
but  it  would  certainly  pay. 

Financial  return 

The  field  being  so  limited  at  present,  it  is  impossible  to  say 
what  a  person  could  earn  as  assistant  to  a  regular  photog- 
rapher. With  a  fair  knowledge  of  her  camera  and  lenses, 
developing,  printing,  and  finishing  methods,  she  would  be 
able  to  ask  from  $20  to  $50  a  week,  according  to  locality.  The 
larger  studios  give  the  larger  chance,  of  course. 

Starting  out  on  her  own  initiative,  after  securing  an  order 
to  photograph  a  garden  she  would  charge  her  patron  so  much 
for  each  finished  picture,  anywhere  from  $3  to  $10  for  the 


06  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

first  print  of  each  view  selected,  with  an  extra  charge  for  any 
extra  prints. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  WOMAN  who  takes  up  the  business  end  of  any  of  these  out- 
door branches  must  be  strong.  Unless  she  has  capital  to  start 
with,  she  will  have  to  carry  her  own  outfit,  and  this  is  no 
light  task,  though  in  these  days  the  way  of  the  garden  pho- 
tographer is  not  so  strenuous  as  it  was  ten  years  ago.  Films 
are  used  now,  even  in  the  larger  sizes,  as  8x10,  and  many 
photographers  use  4x5  and  5x7  outfits,  and  project  (the 
new  term  for  enlarge)  the  views  to  any  size  desired. 

Advantages 

This  business,  with  a  bit  of  care  and  ingenuity,  can  be  built 
up  to  a  well-paying  proposition.  Every  city  has  its  beautiful 
gardens,  some  very  expensive  and  formal,  others  smaller  and 
more  intimate.  Practically  every  owner  wants  lovely  pic- 
tures of  his  garden,  and  if  they  are  successfully  made,  beauti- 
fully finished  and  mounted,  they  will  be  the  best  advertise- 
ment that  the  photographer  could  possibly  have. 

Reading 

Horace  McFakland  has  written  a  book  on  photographing 
flowers  and  trees.  Some  of  the  "Photo-Miniatures,"  pub- 
lished by  Tennant  &  Ward,  would  give  general  hints  along 
the  lines  I  have  mentioned.  A  careful  study  of  some  of  the 
architectural,  garden,  and  society  magazines  will  help  a  great 
deal. 

THE  INTERIOR  DECORATOR 

ELLA  M.  FLANDERS 

Description  of  occupation 

In  the  last  four  years  women  have  come  forward  in  the  busi- 
ness world  in  great  strides.  A  few  years  ago  a  college  graduate 


THE  INTERIOR  DECORATOR  67 

either  filled  a  position  as  school  teacher  or  retired  to  her 
home,  but  to-day  women  are  fitting  into  almost  every  branch 
of  business,  and  among  the  many  fields  op)en  to  them  is  that 
of  interior  decorating. 

As  to-day  the  home  is  more  in  evidence  than  it  has  been 
for  a  long  time,  the  housing  condition  is  making  people  con- 
tented to  remain  where  they  are,  and  then  the  next  thought 
is  to  re-decorate  instead  of  moving  elsewhere.  This  is  wom- 
an's natural  work,  making  the  home  beautiful,  and  she  is 
better  adapted  for  this  work  than  man. 

Preparation  necessary 

There  are  many  schools  which  give  courses  on  this  subject, 

but  I  believe  the  better  way  to  secure  a  knowledge  of  this 

profession  is  to  serve  apprenticeship  with  some  good  firm  and 

learn  the  practical  end  of  the  business  as  well  as  the  artistic 

side. 

Financial  return 

There  are  interior  decorators  whose  income  amounts  to 
many  thousand^  of  dollars  a  year,  but  a  fair  living  is  what  the 
average  decorator  secures  from  this  vocation.  A  student  while 
serving  apprenticeship  earns  from  $12  to  $35  a  week,  accord- 
ing to  the  locality  and  the  firm  by  which  she  is  employed. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  chief  qualifications  which  lead  to  success  in  this  field  of 
work  are :  a  good  general  business  knowledge,  executive  abil- 
ity, a  great  deal  of  constructive  imagination  as  well  as  artistic 
temperament,  and  an  intense  love  for  the  work  itself. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Like  every  other  vocation,  interior  decorating  has  its  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages.  The  chief  advantage  is  the 
contact  with  people  who  are  seeking  the  beautiful  and  the 
environment  of  the  lovely  homes  in  which  one  works. 


68  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

The  disadvantages  are  few.  Of  course,  in  the  busy  season 
the  hours  are  very,  very  long,  and  many  times  one  must  work 
far  into  the  night.  One  has  to  cope  with  keen  competition  and 
very  often  meets  difficult  patrons. 

Reading 

Among  the  many  good  magazines  published  on  this  subject 
are  the  following: 
"House  and  Garden." 
"House  Beautiful." 
"Country  Gentleman." 
"Good  Furniture." 

"House  Furnishing  and  Decoration,"  edited  by  Abbott  Mc- 
'  Clure  and  H.  D.  Eberlein,  and  "A  Book  of  Distinctive 
Interiors,"  by  William  A.  Vollmer,  are  splendid  books. 

THE  JEWELER 

MARGARET  ROGERS 

Qualifications 

The  principal  qualification  for  a  successful  jeweler  is  ability 
to  design  artistically.  To  be  a  good  designer  one  must  under- 
stand the  work  from  a  craftsman's  point  of  view  and  be  able 
to  execute  the  work  and  have  a  knowledge  of  all  the  details; 
otherwise,  the  designs  are  apt  to  be  impractical,  and  when 
the  worker  tries  to  adapt  them  to  the  goldsmith's  art  they 
lose  much  of  the  original  charm.  Another  qualification  must 
be  natural  talent.  One  can  acquire  skill,  but  the  artistic  side 
must  be  born  in  one.  Unless  one  has  ability  and  love  of  this 
kind  of  work,  I  doubt  if  it  would  be  a  successful  field. 

Advantages 

If  one  has  decided  artistic  ability  and  once  understands  the 
limitations  connected  with  the  actual  construction,  the  ad- 
vantages are  good. 


THE  MINIATURE-PAINTER  69 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Opportunity  for  advancement  depends  entirely  on  the  abil- 
ity of  the  worker,  whether  she  is  in  business  for  herself  or  de- 
signing for  some  manufacturing  jeweler.  If  working  inde- 
pendently it  requires  capital  and  a  good  knowledge  of  stones, 
both  precious  and  semi-precious. 

Demand 

There  is  a  demand  for  jewelry  designers,  and  like  everthing 

else,  there  is  plenty  of  room  at  the  top. 

Where  training  may  be  obtained 

Pratt  Institute,  New  York,  is  one  of  the  best  schools  for 
this  training.  Also,  there  is  an  elementary  course  in  the  Boston 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  but  I  think  it  would  be  necessary  to 
continue  work  under  some  jeweler,  either  as  an  apprentice 
or  by  paying  for  the  privilege  of  studying  under  him. 

THE  MINIATURE-PAINTER 

AMY  OTIS 

Director,  Art  Department,  Wheaion  College,  Norton,  Massachusetls 

Description  of  occupation 

The  miniature  of  the  present  day  is  a  revival  of  an  earlier 
form  of  art  that  has  had  a  distinguished  history.  Originating 
in  the  decorations  on  old  missals  of  the  Middle  Ages,  it  has 
appeared  since  in  the  tiny  portraits  in  which  Holbein  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  Van  Dyke  in  the  seventeenth  century 
perpetuated  the  features  of  their  royal  patrons.  The  most 
distinguished  society  of  our  Colonial  period  is  known  to  us  by 
the  miniatures  of  Malbone  and  other  painters  of  the  time. 
With  the  coming  of  photography,  however,  miniatures  de- 
generated or  practically  ceased,  for  a  tinted  photograph  is 
not  a  true  miniature. 

During  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  group 


70  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

of  American  painters,  trained  artists,  who  were  already  doing 
larger  work,  began  to  experiment  in  the  painting  in  water- 
colors  on  ivory  and  the  modern  miniature  is  the  result.  A 
miniature,  then,  is  a  small  painting,  usually  a  portrait,  done 
in  water-colors  on  ivory.  It  should  have  no  connection  with 
a  photograph,  but  should  embody  the  highest  ideals  of  good 
drawing,  values,  color,  and  individual  expression. 

Training  necessary 

The  training  necessary  to  a  miniature  painter  is  that  re- 
quired by  any  portrait  painter  plus  lessons  in  the  technique 
of  the  particular  medium.  A  college  student  wishing  ulti- 
mately to  become  a  miniature  painter  should  select  a  college 
where  there  is  a  good  course  in  studio  work,  including  draw- 
ing from  the  model,  which  she  may  pursue  while  she  is  an 
undergraduate.  In  this  time  a  thorough  foundation  in  draw- 
ing and  painting  may  be  laid  so  that  the  student  could  be 
admitted  without  further  preparation  to  a  portrait  class  in 
one  of  the  good  art  schools. 

The  Art  Students*  League,  New  York;  The  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts,  Philadelphia;  The  Museum  School,  Boston;  The 
Art  Institute,  Chicago.  These  are  some  of  the  best  schools. 
There  are  others  which  might  answer  the  purpose  equally 
well  and  the  student  would  be  guided  by  convenience.  Classes 
in  miniature  painting  are  not  usual  in  the  art  schools,  but 
there  is  one  at  the  Art  Students'  League  in  New  York. 

Special  schools  are:  The  American  School  of  Miniature 
Painters,  939  Eighth  Avenue,  New  York  City;  The  Phila- 
delphia School  of  Miniature  Painters. 

It  might  be  as  well  to  take  a  few  lessons  of  some  good  min- 
iature painter  or  even  to  work  without  instructors  on  ivory 
from  a  model  and  thus  work  out  one's  own  technique.  This 
would  be  advisable  only  after  the  student  is  proficient  in 
drawing  and  painting  either  in  oils  or  water-colors. 


THE  MINIATURE-PAINTER  71 

Qualifications  desirable  for  sticcess 

The  qualifications  for  success  in  this,  as  in  any  branch  of  por- 
trait work,  are  not  only  artistic  ability  —  that  would  de- 
velop with  training  —  but  the  special  ability  to  get  a  likeness, 
which  is  a  natural  gift.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  impossible  to 
limit  the  time  necessary  for  study,  as  it  depends  so  much  on 
the  talent  and  determination  of  the  student,  but  with  these 
much  can  be  accompUshed  in  a  short  time. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  miniature  artists  are  greater  in  the 

large  cities  where  there  is  wealth,  as  miniatures  are  a  luxury. 

Advantages 

One  of  the  pleasant  features  of  the  work  is  the  contact  with 
interesting  people.  The  social  element  plays  a  large  part  in 
any  portrait  painting. 

The  miniature  painter  should  begin  as  soon  as  possible  to 
send  work  to  the  exhibitions  of  the  miniature  societies.  These 
societies  have  bee'h  formed  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  art; 
to  keep  up  the  standards  of  work  and  to  help  the  artist  to  be 
known.  The  number  of  good  miniaturists  in  the  field  can  be 
judged  by  noting  the  membership: 

The  American  Society  of  Miniature  Painters,  New  York, 
27  members. 

The  Philadelphia  Society  of  Miniature  Painters,  having 
exhibitions  in  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  40  members. 

The  Chicago  Society  of  Miniature  Painters  exhibiting  at 
the  Art  Institute,  11  members. 

The  field  is  not  overcrowded. 

Financial  returns 

The  financial  returns  are  good.  The  prices  paid  for  minia- 
tures vary  from  $100  to  $1000  according  to  the  reputation 
of  the  artist,  and  the  good  miniaturists  do  not  lack  for  com- 
missions. 


72  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Suggested  reading 

The  literature  on  the  subject  of  miniature  painting  is  of  very 
little  practical  aid,  but  there  are  two  books  which  offer  val- 
uable suggestions  with  regard  to  materials : 
"The  Art  of  Miniature  Painting  "—Charles  W.  Day.  Pub- 
lished by  Winsor  &  Newton,  dealers  in  art  materials. 
"Guide  to  Miniature  Painting"  —  J.  S.  Templeton.   Pub- 
lished by  George  Rowney  &  Co.,  Manufacturing  Artists. 
The  following  books  are  useful  for  the  history  of  the  art  in 
a  compact  and  interesting  form,  with  illustrations  of  some  of 
the  best  old  miniatures: 

"Miniatures — Ancient  and  Modern"  — Cyril  Davenport. 
"How  to  Identify  Portrait  Miniatures" — George  C.  William- 
son. Published  by  George  Bell  &  Sons. 

THE  PHOTOGRAPHER 

MARY  L.  PATTEN 

Description  of  occupation 

Photography  has  a  wide  field.  It  may  be  used  commercially, 
as  in  advertising  work  which  includes  the  copying  of  portraits, 
manuscripts,  etc.;  in  scientific  work;  in  portraiture,  in  which 
there  is  a  chance  for  a  very  wide  variety,  from  a  sharply  fo- 
cused picture  showing  every  detail  to  a  study  of  light  and 
shade  made  with  a  soft  focus  lens.  There  is  a  demand  for  each 
kind  for  various  purposes  and  to  suit  different  standards  of 
taste.  I  am  a  portrait  photographer.  Many  women  are  doing 
the  commercial  work,  combining  with  it  developing  and 
printing  for  amateurs. 

Much  portrait  work  is  done  now  in  homes,  giving  a  pleasant 
change  from  constant  work  in  the  studio.  The  tendency  is 
toward  a  natural  picture,  more  of  a  snap-shot,  in  contrast  to 
the  old-time,  carefully  posed  portrait  which  was  often  stiff. 

In  the  old  days  only  a  north  light  was  used;  now  I  use  sun- 
light and  window  lighting,  often  taking  my  subjects  against 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER  73 

the  light,  which  gives  a  very  charming  effect.  When  I  began 
my  home  portrait  work  twenty  years  ago  it  was  practically 
unknown  and  was  very  successful.  The  established  photog- 
raphers told  us  we  could  not  make  a  good  negative  out  of  a 
studio,  so  to  make  sure  we  lugged  around  the  big  studio 
camera,  strapping  the  stand  to  the  back  of  a  cab;  now  I  carry 
a  light  outfit  in  a  straw  suitcase  and  use  a  rapid  lens  and  rapid 
plates  or  films. 

Preparation  necessary 

In  the  matter  of  training  or  preparation,  nothing  can  take  the 
place  of  actual  work  with  a  camera  and  in  the  dark  room,  de- 
veloping one's  own  negatives;  then  printing  from  the  nega- 
tives, experimenting  with  various  kinds  of  paper  to  get  the 
effect  desired.  Most  professional  photographers  served  their 
apprenticeship  in  some  studio,  working  in  various  depart- 
ments. A  rough  knowledge  of  chemistry  is  very  useful,  al- 
though I  am  afraid  the  average  photographer  is  far  from  sci- 
entific. My  own  training  began  in  the  Normal  Art  School, 
where  I  spent  four  years,  and  I  drifted  into  professional 
photography  very  much  by  chance,  finding  the  knowledge  of 
light  and  shade  and  composition,  which  I  gained  in  the  art 
school,  very  helpful. 

The  length  of  training  for  the  portrait  side  of  the  work  de- 
pends entirely  upon  the  ability  of  the  person.  Work  in  a  school 
is  of  more  value  after  some  practical  work  has  been  done,  and 
much  may  be  gained  by  experimenting  with  a  kodak  and  de- 
veloping the  negatives.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  artistic 
photographer  the  best  school  for  portrait  work  is  Clarence 
H.  White's  in  New  York.  There  are  two  others  in  New  York 
which  give  more  of  a  commercial  training,  and  one  in  Efling- 
ham,  Illinois.  These  schools  are: 

Clarence  H.  White  School,  122  East  17th  St.,  New  York 
City. 

New  York  Institute  of  Photography,  141  W.  36th  St. 
New  York. 


74  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

E.  Brunei  College  of  Photography,  1269  Broadway,  New 
York. 

Illinois  College  of  Photography,  910  Wabash  Avenue, 
Effingham,  Illinois. 

After  training  gained  both  in  studio  and  school,  if  pos- 
sible, the  worker  seeks  the  place  for  which  her  taste  and 
ability  fit  her.  She  may  choose  developing,  retouching,  print- 
ing, finishing,  or  making  of  the  negative,  or,  if  she  is  ambi- 
tious and  wishes  to  work  out  her  own  ideas,  she  will  start  a 
studio  of  her  own.  In  that  case,  since  there  is  much  compe- 
tition and  rents  are  high  in  a  large  city,  it  is  wise  to  start  in  a 
small  town  and  not  expect  more  than  to  cover  expenses  the 
first  year.  The  outfit,  camera  and  lenses  cost  very  much. 
After  the  first  year  one  should  make  a  good  living  from  the 
work.  I  work  but  nine  months  of  the  year,  since  the  summer 
is  not  a  good  season  in  Boston,  and  make  a  good  living  from  it. 
Many  photographers  go  either  to  the  seashore  or  mountains 
for  the  summer  trade. 

Qualificaiions  desirable  for  success 

To  succeed  requires  infinite  patience  with  the  many  diffi- 
culties to  be  overcome  in  handling  plates,  films,  chemicals, 
and  printing  paper.  For  example,  one  must  figure  on  the 
slowness  with  which  things  work  in  cold  weather  and  the 
speed  in  summer.  Infinite  patience  and  tact  are  required  in 
handling  restless  children  and  stiff  and  self-conscious  grown- 
ups. A  woman's  individuality  should  count  here.  Each  year 
by  experimenting,  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  profession  are 
added. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  profession  has  many  advantages;  chiefly  I  should  put  its 
great  variety,  especially  to  the  worker  who  is  jack-of-all- 
trades.  There  is  always  something  new  to  try  out.  It  is  by 
no  means  sedentary  and  leads  one  much  out  of  doors.  Again, 
one  meets  many  interesting  people  and  makes  friends  and  ac- 


THE  SCULPTOR  75 

quaintances.  Its  disadvantages  have  been  now  rendered  very 
trifling,  since  work  in  the  dark  room  is  shortened  by  new 
methods  and  the  hours  of  confinement  are  not  long.  Pos- 
sibly one  third  of  the  people  engaged  in  photography  are 
women  and  the  pay  is  now  very  good  in  comparison  with 
clerical  work.  There  seems  to  be  a  steady  demand  for  work- 
ers. 

Reading 

Many  of  the  photographic  magazines  offer  helpful  sugges- 
tions. The  "Photo-Miniature,"  "a  monthly  magazine  of 
photographic  information,"  is  especially  good.  Copies  may 
be  bought  at  photographic  supply  stores.  There  are  innu- 
merable handbooks  on  every  branch  of  the  subject,  but,  as  a 
rule,  they  would  be  too  technical  for  a  beginner  whose  best 
book  is  a  small  camera. 


THE  SCULPTOR 

EDNA  ISBESTER  SPENCER  ' 

Winner  of  the  Kimball  Prize.    Has  exhibited  at  the  National  Academy 
New  York,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Academy 

Description  of  occupation 

The  women  sculptors  of  to-day  have  earned  their  right  to 
recognition  by  creating  and  producing  the  originality  and 
beauty  in  sculpture.  Therefore  the  success  of  the  woman 
sculptor  is  assured,  but  must  be  accomplished  with  years  of 
study  and  concentration. 

For  those  who  intend  to  select  this  as  their  career,  let  me 
earnestly  advise  first  that  they  look  well  within  themselves, 
and  be  sure  that  it  is  the  profession  fitted  for  them,  and  that 
they  feel  they  can  truly  contribute  to  the  betterment  of  the 
sculptor's  field.  One  must  love  her  work  in  order  to  produce 
the  best  results,  and  if  that  ideal  is  not  instilled  in  the  mind, 
it  would  be  better  to  apply  the  study  spent  along  the  lines  of 


76  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

sculpture  in  another  direction,  but  if  one  feels  the  call,  and 
feels  the  creative  spirit,  then  take  up  the  career. 

The  art  of  sculpture  goes  back  many  centuries,  but  the 
process  by  which  we  now  arrive  at  the  finished  product  is 
time  and  labor  saving  for  the  sculptor.  While  in  the  earlier 
days  the  sculptor  cut  his  own  work  directly  from  the  marble, 
a  machine  is  now  made  which  does  the  measuring  and  cutting. 
The  sculptor  of  to-day  makes  a  model  in  either  plastiline  or 
clay,  which  when  finished  is  sent  to  the  caster,  or  it  is  some- 
times cast  in  the  studio.  That  plaster  cast  is  sent  to  the  bronze 
foundry,  where  it  is  moulded  in  bronze,  which  in  itself  is  a 
long  process,  and  well  worth  a  visit  to  some  foundry  to  see  the 
details. 

Training  necessary 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  four  large  schools  in  the  East, 
which  have  men  of  recognized  merit,  well  endowed  to  teach 
the  fundamentals,  and  guide  the  student  through  the  four 
years'  course  with  a  great  understanding  of  the  subject.  There 
are  many  smaller  schools,  but  I  would  advise  the  selection 
of  one  of  the  following : 

Museum  of  Fine  Arts  School,  Huntington  Avenue,  Boston. 
Mr.  Charles  Grafly,  Instructor. 

The  Art  League  of  New  York,  West  58th  Street,  New 
York  City.  Mr.  Robert  Aiken,  Instructor. 

The  Chicago  Institute,  Michigan  Avenue,  Chicago.  Mr. 
Albin  Polasek,  Instructor. 

The  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  Philadelphia. 
Mr.  Charles  Grafly,  Instructor. 

At  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  School  in  Boston,  the  course 
consists  of  four  years  of  training,  working  from  life.  There 
is  an  afternoon  class  for  beginners,  where  the  student  works 
from  the  cast,  and  when  the  work  merits  it,  the  student  is 
advanced  to  the  morning  modeling  class.  It  is  essential  that 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  anatomy  be  obtained,  and  a  course 
in  that  most  important  study  can  be  taken  free  of  charge  while 


THE  SCULPTOR  77 

studying  modeling.  The  course  is  of  about  three  mcHiths 
duration. 

After  completing  the  school  course,  the  student  may  then 
\vt>rk  with  some  sculptor  as  assistant,  thereby  getting  into 
close  contact  with  the  working  conditions  of  the  studio  and 
the  setting-up  of  heroic  figures  which  are  not  included  in  the 
school  studies.  The  hours  are  from  nine  o'clock  until  one. 
Two  afternoons  a  week  are  given  to  composition,  or  more,  as 
the  student  wishes. 

Opportunity  for  advancement  —  Financial  return 
The  opportunities  for  advancement  are  many.  The  financial 
return  the  first  year  is  not  large.   If  the  quality  of  the  work 
is  of  a  high  standard,  there  will  always  be  a  market  for  it. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  SUCCESSFUL  sculptor  cannot  be  made  from  a  student  with- 
out some  natural  talent  for  the  subject,  and  the  skill  that  is 
needed  and  nec^sary  must  have  that  as  a  foundation  upon 
which  to  build. 

Supply  and  demand 

Statistics  show  that  there  were  15,429  women  artists, 
sculptors,  and  teachers  of  art  in  the  United  States  in  1910, 
but  the  percentage  for  sculptors  would  be  small,  approxi- 
mately ten  per  cent. 

Reading 

Some  of  the  best  books  on  the  subject  of  sculpture  follow: 

Ernest  H.  Short's  "History  of  Sculpture,"  comprising 
Hellenic  Sculpture,  Roman  Sculpture,  the  Sculpture  of  the 
Italian  Renaissance,  and  Modern.  Other  books  on  the  same 
subject  have  been  written  by  Harold  North  Fowler,  Ph.D., 
and  Lorado  Taft. 


78  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  STAGE  DESIGNER 

LUCY  CONANT 

Department  of  Home  Economics,  University  of  California 

Description  of  occupation 

The  occupation  of  stage  designing  is  one  that  comprises 
varied  study  and  background.  It  means  knowledge  of  archi- 
tecture, the  sense  of  spaces,  especially  cubic,  the  psychology 
of  proportion  and  color,  the  experience  of  experimentation 
in  colored  lighting.  It  denotes  a  feeling  for  the  subtle  and  a 
daring  for  the  grandiose;  a  spirit  sympathetic  and  various 
that  can  continue  the  imagination  of  the  playwright  to  a 
degree  that  shall  enhance  the  play  by  means  he  knows  not, 
while  moving  in  pleasant  leash  with  his  own  meaning  and 
desire;  an  intuition  that  often  must  make  a  stage  an  imagined 
place  of  beauty  in  spite  of  need  for  great  economy,  and  can 
accomplish  such  an  end  through  the  powers  of  reserve  and 
salience,  enhancement  and  subordination,  born  of  the  study 
and  the  sense  of  pure  design. 

Preparation  desirable 

Pbepabation  should  include  such  study  of  pure  design,  the 
knowledge  of  the  use  of  paints  and  tools,  the  historic  back- 
ground of  buildings,  decoration  and  costume,  lighting,  and 
carpentry,  if  possible.  The  school  of  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 
in  Boston  has  a  comprehensive  course  in  stage  setting,  con- 
nected with  its  classes  in  design.  Practical  work  is  given,  and 
the  student  who  is  artistically  ready  often  is  able  to  carry  out 
a  play  from  beginning  to  end,  including  the  costuming,  in 
cooperation  or  alone.  Such  work  is  also  done  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Drama,  at  the  Camegie  Institute  of  Technology  in 
Pittsburgh,  but  probably  not  in  connection  with  the  study  of 
design  as  in  Boston  where  the  museum  itself  is  the  daily  source 
of  research.  A  four-year  course  may  be  undertaken  in  Boston, 
or  a  student  offering  the  necessary  prerequisites  may  enter 


THE  STAGE  DESIGNER  79 

as  a  special  student.  As  an  undergraduate,  planning  for 
future  stage  work,  courses  in  design  and  period  styles,  in 
figure  drawing,  and  in  composition  and  the  crafts,  in  the  his- 
tory of  art  or  archaeology,  and,  not  to  be  neglected,  in  the 
theory  of  color,  would  be  invaluable. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

It  is  not  easy  to  speak  of  such,  for  the  large  stage  work  is 
almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  men,  of  special  designers,  and 
the  regular  firms  of  stage  painters.  Robert  Jones,  Anisfeld, 
Livingston  Piatt,  Urban,  Pogany,  Hewlett,  Maurice  Browne, 
and  others  constantly  are  completing  interesting  designs.  A 
woman  might  continue  her  study  as  practical  assistant  to 
such  designers,  and,  possibly  preceding  such  employment, 
she  might  put  on  plays  in  an  experimental  or  small  community 
theater,  where  her  experience  would  be  valuable,  but  her 
financial  returns  small.  Certain  women  design  for  the  stage 
without  persoijally  carrying  out  such  designs.  Others  imder- 
take  the  costumes  in  collaboration,  completing  the  color 
scheme. 

Financial  return 

It  is  impossible  to  give  advice  as  to  financial  returns.  They 
would  depend  on  the  power  and  charm  of  the  ideas  and  de- 
signs, vigor  of  imagination,  personal  strength  and  initiative, 
staying  power,  for  the  work  is  hard,  the  novelty  and  applica- 
bility of  designs,  their  momentary  fashion  or  their  eternal 
fitness. 

Qualifications  necessary 

In  thus  mentioning  qualifications,  beside  the  intrinsic  value 
of  a  scientific  and  practical  training,  one  can  add  that  per- 
sonality and  directness  mean  much  in  dealing  with  large 
numbers  of  people  as  in  a  pageant,  but  such  contact  comes 
mostly  between  the  director  and  the  crowd. 


80  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Advantages 

The  principal  advantages  are:  the  sense  of  creation  and  its 
realization  in  a  concrete  and  actual  way;  the  sense  of  ful- 
filled power  as  the  created  picture  lives  before  the  eyes  of  a 
tired  world. 

Disadvantages 

The  disadvantages  are:  diflSculty  in  getting  a  position  with 
financial  returns;  long  hours  or  certainly  irregular  ones;  if  in 
practical  work,  often  late  at  night;  irregular  employment, 
according  to  the  needs  of  a  playhouse  or  the  run  of  a  play. 
There  is  a  woman  in  Chicago  who  is  doing  actual  and  good 
stage  work,  it  is  said.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  her 
experience. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  is  a  large  field  for  women  in  community  pageants,  in 
school  productions,  in  parades,  and  in  work  where  costume 
and  the  combination  of  color  are  the  dominant  powers  in 
pleasing  an  audience,  and  where  the  expense  of  a  stage  pro- 
duction and  lighting  and  the  exigencies  of  the  box  office  do 
not  hamper  the  production.  As  to  statistics  or  number  of 
those  doing  such  work,  such  are  not  at  hand. 

Suggested  reading 

Drama  of  all  epochs  and  countries. 

Modern  books  on  Design,  Color,  and  Pageantry. 

"The  Theater  of  To-day"  —  H.  K.  Moderwell. 

"  The  Art  Theater  "  —  Sheldon  Cheney. 

"The  Outdoor  Theater"  —  Sheldon  Cheney. 

"Play  Production"  —  A.  E.  Krews. 

"On  the  Art  of  the  Theater"  —  Gordon  Craig. 

"Toward  a  New  Theater"  —  Gordon  Craig. 

"  The  Theater  Magazine." 

"Drama." 


THE  WOOD-CARVER  81 

The  study  should  mclude  that  of  Oriental  plays,  including 
the  "Noh"  of  Japan  and  the  Shadow  Marionettes  of  Java, 
the  ceremonial  dances  of  the  American  Indians,  a  compre- 
hensive study  of  dances  and  costumes  of  all  peoples,  the 
"Commedia  del  Arte"  and  the  old  English  and  French  plays. 
It  should  comprehend  photographs  and  publications  dealing 
with  the  designs  of  Appia,  Reinhardt,  Anisfeld,  Bakst,  the 
Russian  dancers  and  stage  designers,  and  the  modern  French 
and  English  designers,  including  especially  Granville  Barker. 


THE  WOOD-CARVER 

CARRIE  L.  MORSE  . 

Description  of  occupation 

Wood-carving  is  cutting  wood  and  modeling  wood  by  means 
of  cutting  tools.  There  are  varieties  of  carvers.  Some  do  fig- 
ures and  groins  which  require  much  skill  and  knowledge  of 
anatomy.  Less  trained  workers  carve  trays,  frames,  candle- 
sticks, etc.,  which  require  knowledge  of  design. 

Training  necessary 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  your  wood  and  tools  and  have 
some  knowledge  of  design.  It  is  very  necessary  to  know  how 
to  sharpen  tools.  The  length  of  time  needed  for  training  de- 
pends entirely  on  the  individual.  Like  everything  else,  it  re- 
quires concentration  and  constant  practice. 

Financial  return 

This  vocation  is  not  remunerative  for  a  living  wage. 

Qualifications 

One  should  have  the  power  of  taking  infinite  pains.  Patience 
in  unlimited  quantities  is  necessary,  for  the  work  is  exacting 
and  time  is  usually  not  considered  in  this  type  of  work.  Also, 
a  deep  appreciation  and  love  of  the  beautiful  are  necessary. 


BUSINESS 

OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  WOMEN  IN  A 
BOOK-PUBLISHING  HOUSE 

M.  IRENE  SALMON 

Description  of  occupation 

In  the  oflSce  of  the  book  publisher  there  are  numerous  posi- 
tions for  women,  although  as  constituted  at  present  the  staffs 
of  most  of  the  larger  houses  include  more  women  without, 
than  with,  college  educations.  The  work  is  always  fascinating 
to  the  lover  of  books.  Much  of  it  is  of  a  secretarial  and  cleri- 
cal nature,  although,  for  those  qualified,  there  are  other  com- 
fortable and  interesting  niches  in  various  branches  of  the 
business. 

While  all  departments  —  editorial,  manufacturing,  ad- 
vertising, sales,  management,  etc.  —  offer  good  secretarial 
positions,  opportunities  for  more  constructive  and  original 
work  are  to  be  found  in  the  editorial  and  advertising  divisions 
of  the  work. 

Reading  of,  and  reporting  on,  assigned  manuscripts,  prep- 
aration of  copy  for  the  printers,  proof-reading,  interviewing 
authors,  etc.,  are  all  editorial  department  duties  falling  to  the 
lot  of  the  worker  of  special  aptitudes. 

The  advertising  field  for  the  publisher  is  being  enlarged 
daily,  and  writing  copy  for  newspapers  and  magazines,  pre- 
paring news  notes  about  authors  and  books,  laying  out  bulle- 
tins, catalogues,  circulars,  posters,  etc.,  are  most  interesting 
occupations,  though  the  routine  work  in  this  department 
should  not  be  underestimated. 

The  publishing  house  which  has  its  own  press  automatically 
adds  to  its  list  of  available  positions  for  women  an  entirely 
different  group.  Women  with  artistic  leanings  who  have 
acquired  technical  knowledge  of  typography,  designing,  en- 


IN  BOOK-PUBLISHING  HOUSES  83 

graving,  binding,  etc.,  often  contribute  much  to  the  eflSciency 
of  the  manufacturing  department. 

While  the  idea  of  road  work  is  appealing  to  some,  the  great 
distances  to  be  covered  in  a  given  time  by  those  who  have  to 
sell  to  the  bookstores  of  the  country  have  seemed  to  make 
this  work  too  arduous  for  tl^  average  woman.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  a  real  selling  field  —  and  as  yet  but  little  tilled 
—  in  connection  with  standard  books  and  sets  of  books  sold 
by  subscription  to  private  individuals.  Women,  sincerely 
impressed  with  the  merit  of  these  publications  and  enthusi- 
astic to  bring  suitable  reading  matter  into  homes  where  it  is 
particularly  needed,  here  find  agreeable  employment  and  an 
opportunity  for  educative  work  of  a  high  order. 

Some  women  have  proved  most  successful  in  the  work  of 
instructing  special  sales  forces  of  this  kind,  while  others  have 
shown  much  capability  as  supervisors  of  correspondence  in 
large  departments  like  the  educational  (through  which  the 
sale  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  school  and  college  textbooks 
passes  each  year). 

Employment  questions  and  details  of  office  management 
here  and  there  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  some  young  woman 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  publisher's  policies  and  the 
average  worker's  point  of  view  to  make  the  arrangement 
advantageous  to  all  concerned. 

Preparation 

It  is  difficult  to  prescribe  exact  preparation  for  work  in  this 
field.  The  young  college  graduate  with  a  knowledge  of  ste- 
nography and  typewriting  will  find  more  chance  for  wedging 
into  the  work  than  one  who  lacks  this  special  training.  The 
interested,  efficient  girl  with  a  well-trained  memory  (often 
the  result  of  her  practice  of  stenography)  is  frequently  able, 
because  of  it,  to  step  up  into  a  more  interesting  and  lucrative 
place  in  the  same  or  another  department.  While  the  special 
journalistic  and  advertising  courses  offered  at  some  of  the  uni- 
versities and  colleges  may  be  helpful  later  in  book  work,  the 


84  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

actual  experience  acquired  through  an  apprenticeship  in  the 
pubUsher's  office  is  in  the  majority  of  cases  a  more  effective, 
if  slower,  process. 

Advancement 

Few  businesses  offer  more  compensations  than  the  publishing 
house  to  the  young  woman  deeply  interested  in  her  work.  Per- 
haps the  least  of  these  is  thefinancial  return.  While,  naturally, 
the  salary  eventually  received  depends  upon  the  all-round 
efficiency  of  the  worker  herself,  there  are  distinct  limitations 
to  the  salary  budgets  of  this  business  because  of  conditions 
governing  the  industrial  side  of  it.  An  absolutely  inexperi- 
enced girl  without  stenographic  training  receives  in  a  clerical 
capacity  from  $15  to  $18  per  week,  the  promise  of  the  ap- 
plicant and  the  quality  of  work  to  be  performed  determining 
the  actual  figure  paid;  the  exceptional  young  woman  under- 
taking a  higher  grade  of  work,  starting  at  from  $20  to  $25 
per  week.  Strictly  secretarial  positions  offer  varying  remu- 
neration, but  the  average  runs  from  $20  to  $25  per  week. 
Although  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule,  the  highest  paid 
women  seldom  receive,  after  years  of  application,  more  than 
from  $50  to  $60  per  week. 

Qualifications 

The  usual  business  requirements  as  to  tact,  courtesy,  indus- 
try, ability  to  concentrate,  and  neat  personal  appearance 
apply  with  equal  force  to  this  line  of  work. 

While  an  abiUty  to  spell  and  punctuate  correctly  may  seem 
of  minor  importance  to  the  young  woman  of  academic  training, 
its  value  in  this  occupation  cannot  be  overemphasized.  A  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  literature  is,  of  course,  a  real  asset. 

Advantages 

Far  removed  from  the  din  of  "the  Street"  and  various  com- 
mercial lines,  the  atmosphere  of  the  average  publishing  office 
is  leisurely  and  pleasant.  The  chief  advantages  of  an  associa- 
tion of  this  kind  are  intellectual  —  both  as  to  people  with 


IN  BOOK-PUBLISHING  HOUSES  85 

whom  one  comes  in  contact  and  the  nature  of  the  work  itself 
—  and  make  for  a  content  with  one's  occupation  which  is 
refreshing.  Many  girls  have  found  that  a  few  years  spent  in  a 
publishing  house  have  been  to  them,  in  the  accumulation  of 
knowledge  of  books  and  life,  the  equivalent  to  a  college,  or 
post-graduate,  course.  The  hours  are  uniformly  reasonable. 

Disadvantages 

Remuneration  on  a  slightly  lower  scale  than  some  commer- 
cial lines,  as  referred  to  above. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  H.  W.  Wilson  Company  report  approximately  800  book 
publishers  in  the  United  States.  About  thirty  of  these  are 
large,  well-established  concerns,  fifteen  or  more  located  in 
New  York,  a  half-dozen  in  Boston,  about  three  in  Philadel- 
phia; Chicago,  wnich  is  more  especially  a  magazine  publishing 
center,  has  its  handful  of  book  houses  as  well  —  all  of  which 
establish  the  East  as  the  large  field  for  work  of  this  kind.  All 
told  there  are  probably  not  more  than  2500  women  of  college 
education  employed  in  the  line  at  present  so  that  the  supply 
is  well  up  to  the  demand.  As  time  goes  on  there  will  doubtless 
be  room  for  many  others  in  what  has  been  called  "  the  most 
fascinating  business  in  the  world." 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Publisher,"  by  Robert  Sterling  Yard. 

THE  CAMP-DIRECTOR 

MRS.  LUTHER  H.  GUUCK 

Director,  Lviher  Gidick  Camps 

Description  of  occupation 

A  CAMP  director  is  one  who  manages  a  camp  for  young  people 
or  older  people.  He  may  own  the  camp  himself  or  direct  it 
under  the  owner.  He  may  do  all  the  work  of  the  camp  him- 


86  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

self,  or  may  be  assisted  (as  is  usually  the  case)  by  a  number 
of  employees.  The  actual  work  done  either  by  the  director 
or  under  his  supervision,  includes  the  following: 

Choosing  the  camp  site. 

Building  the  necessary  buildings  and  ordering  equipment. 

Selecting  the  staff  of  employees  and  assistants. 

Writing  and  getting  out  a  camp  booklet. 

Securing  campers  by  advertising,  by  distributing  booklets, 
by  traveling,  letters,  and  interviews. 

Securing  a  mailing  list  and  clienteles. 

Attending  to  railroad  correspondence  involved  in  trans- 
portation of  campers  to  and  from  camp. 

Arranging  for  housing,  feeding,  caring  for  campers. 

Directing  and  supervising  all  camp  activities. 

Presiding  at  all  important  camp  exercises. 

Training  necessary 

Education  which  gives  the  camp  director  a  knowledge  and 
love  of  the  out-of-doors,  and  which  enables  him  to  appreciate 
and  make  others  appreciate  everything  that  is  fine  and  noble 
in  character,  literature,  art,  poetry,  etc.;  a  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  health  and  the  ability  to  apply  them. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Advancement  is  gained  through  greater  and  greater  recog- 
nition by  the  world  of  the  worth  of  camp  work  as  education, 

Financial  return 

Small  for  the  experimental  years  of  camp  —  often  financial 
loss  for  several  summers.  When  the  camp  is  firmly  established, 
it  may  be  possible  to  clear  appreciable  sums. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Personality  (most  important  of  all),  including  tact,  insight 
and  understanding,  breeding,  refinement,  spiritual-minded- 
ness,  sense  of  fun  and  humor,  business  ability,  executive  ability. 


DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS         87 

Advantages  of  being  a  camp  director 

Feeling  the  growth  of  the  camp  movement  for  better  man- 
hood and  womanhood  through  seeing  boys,  girls,  and  older 
people  improved  in  spirit,  mind,  and  body;  having  a  wider  and 
wider  circle  of  friends  from  all  over  the  comitry. 

Disadvantages 

Having  necessary  hours  of  anxiety  over  special  problems 
connected  with  any  business  or  profession;  laboring  for 
months  of  routine  work. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Hundreds  of  camps  now  in  existence  —  majority  in  New 
England,  but  others  throughout  the  United  States.  Summer 
camping  (orgaiiized)  has  not  yet  gained  a  foothold  in  Europe. 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Efficient  Life"  —  Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick. 

"A  Philosophy  of  Play"  — Dr.  L.  H.  Gulick. 

"Summer  in  the  Girls'  Camp  "  —  Anna  W.  Coale. 

"  Sebago-Wohelo  Camp-Fire  Girls  "  —  Rogers. 

Good  books  on  nature  and  nature  lore. 

Good  books  on  outdoor  games,  crafts,  cooking,  etc. 

DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS  FOR 
WOMEN 

JOSEPHINE  D.  SUTTON 

Secretary  to  the  General  Manager  and  Treasurer,  William  Filene's  Sons 
Company,  Boston 

I.  Buyer  and  Assistant  Buyer 

Description  of  occupation 

This  position  involves  the  selection  of  merchandise  which  will 
sell  at  a  profit;  the  making  and  maintaining  of  mutually  prof- 
itable relations  between  manufacturer  and  buyer;  the  knowl- 


88  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

edge  and  handling  of  departmental  figures,  sales,  stocks,  per- 
centages of  mark-up,  etc. :  in  most  stores  the  ability  to  organ- 
ize and  maintain  a  department  staff  of  buying  and  selling 
assistants. 

The  line  of  promotion  to  a  buyership  is  salesperson,  head 
of  stock,  clerical  assistant  to  the  buyer,  assistant  buyer, 
buyer.  One  may  come  into  the  assistant  buyership,  however, 
from  work  in  the  main  merchandise  office  of  the  store  or 
from  work  in  the  comparison  or  shopping  office,  or  from 
any  general  position  in  the  store  which  gives  knowledge  of 
merchandise. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

Buyership  leads  in  exceptional  cases  to  a  division  manager- 
ship, the  supervision  of  a  division  of  related  departments  each 
in  charge  of  a  buyer.  One  might  successfully  open  a  small 
store  for  one's  self  with  the  training  acquired  as  a  buyer. 
Merchandise  managers  of  stores  in  charge  of  all  the  buying 
staff  usually  progress  from  buyer  to  division  manager  to  mer- 
chandise manager.  Women  as  yet  have  made  few  places  as 
merchandise  managers. 

Financial  return 

Buyers'  salaries  range  from  $30  to  $150  a  week.  The  aver- 
age is  from  $50  to  $75. 

Qualifications  necessary 

Various  types  of  people  succeed  as  buyers,  but  it  is  generally 
conceded  that  successful  buyers  should  possess  a  style  sense, 
bargaining  ability,  self-confidence,  ability  to  handle  and 
manipulate  figures.  Ability  to  handle  people  is  desirable,  but 
not  often  found  coupled  with  the  other  qualities. 

Buying  positions  pay  very  well  and  offer  a  field  where 
women  are  needed  and  have  a  chance  to  make  good.  The  old 
type  of  buyer  is  changing  and  scientific  procedure  is  replacing 
the  rule  of  thumb.  College  women  trained  to  think  for  tl^efliis 


DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS         89 

selves,  but  to  recognize  authority,  to  do  team  work,  to  analyze 
facts,  to  meet  people  fairly  and  squarely  and  to  recognize  the 
need  of  service  to  all  are  making  good  buyers  and  will  help  to 
increase  the  demand  as  well  as  the  supply. 

II.  Head  of  Comparison  Office  or  Assistant  to  Head 
Description  of  occupation 

This  job  is  little  known  outside  of  a  store,  but  is  perfectly 
possible  of  accomplishment  by  women  and  is  particularly  of 
interest  at  this  time  as  more  and  more  stores  are  adding 
these  departments. 

The  comparison  or  shopping  office  of  a  store  consists  of  a 
staff  of  from  two  to  fifteen  or  more  people  responsible  for 
keeping  the  buyers  and  merchandise  managers  in  touch  with 
competition.  The  staff  must  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  merchandise  offered  for  sale  in  its  own  store,  and  must  day 
by  day  follow  what  is  offered  for  sale  in  other  shops,  so  that  its 
own  organization  will  meet  and  beat  competition.  It  is  also 
responsible  for  following  daily  advertising,  styles,  novelties. 
New  York  showings,  and  to  make  critical  reports  of  service 
and  upkeep  within  the  store.  . 

Preparation  necessary  ^ ' 

To  become  assistant  to  the  head  of  such  a  department,  and 
finally  head,  would  require  knowledge  of  the  technique  and 
working  of  the  office  gained  as  a  shopper  or  as  a  clerk  in  the 
department.  Possibly  a  beginning  might  be  made  as  a  ste- 
nographer, or  a  transfer  might  be  made  from  other  positions 
in  the  store. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  road  for  advancement  from  head  of  the  comparison 
office  is  not  a  plain  one  and  opportunity  would  have  to  point 
the  way.  It  might  lead  to  buyership  or  other  merchandise 
positions.  A  very  thorough  knowledge  of  merchandise  and  of 
store  operation  is  gained  in  this  office. 


90  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

The  salary  varies  with  the  size  of  the  department  and  the  im- 
portance the  store  attaches  to  the  work.  It  might  vary  from 
$30  to  $40  to  $100  a  week.  Women  are  filling  these  positions 
creditably  in  several  large  stores. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

As  this  position  necessitates  the  constant  criticism  of  others' 
work  and  a  checking-up  on  their  accomplishments  in  compar- 
ison with  others,  tact  and  effectual  handling  of  people  is 
necessary.  Executive  ability  in  marshaling  and  directing  the 
efforts  of  the  shoppers,  constant  attention  to  and  mastering  of 
detail  without  letting  it  get  the  better  of  your  vision,  are  out- 
standing qualifications. 

This  type  of  work  is  just  developing  in  many  stores  and  a 
"well-directed  effort  to  master  it  ought  to  meet  with  a  ready 
market  for  services. 

A  college-trained  woman  could  bring  to  this  job  a  scientific 
knowledge  of  textiles,  of  the  chemical  testing  of  fabrics  for 
compositions,  wear,  dye,  etc.,  and  could  create  a  position  in 
which  she  could  be  of  real  service  to  the  store  and  to  the  com- 
munity through  her  position  as  critic  of  its  merchandise, 

III.  Advebtising  Office 

The  advertising  office  of  a  large  store  has  as  its  staff  a  man- 
ager, assistant  advertising  manager,  his  secretary,  copy- 
writers, artists,  proof-readers,  and  stenographers.  Anyone 
of  these  positions,  except  the  head  of  the  department,  would 
be  within  the  capability  of  a  girl  on  graduation  from  college. 

(a)  Copy-Writers 

Description  of  occupation  —  Qualifications 
The  ability  to  write  in  an  original,  forceful,  concise  manner, 
together  with  an  eye  for  style  and  quick,  accurate  powers  of 
observation,  might  find  a  college  graduate  this  sort  of  a  job. 


DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS        91 

A  copy-writer  is  responsible  to  the  advertising  manager,  and 
after  interviewing  buyers  and  merchandise  people  and  exam- 
ining the  goods  writes  up  the  merchandise  to  be  advertised. 

A  successful,  experienced  copy-writer  makes  the  lay-out  or 
dummy  of  the  page.  Often  she  has  assistants  whose  work  she 
assigns  and  supervises.  An  eye  for  line  and  balance,  for  the 
artistic  composition  of  a  page,  for  the  selection  of  attractive 
designs,  borders,  cuts  and  illustrations  of  all  sorts,  an  artist's 
power  with  type,  are  the  qualities  which  successful  copy- writ- 
ers possess.  Besides  these  a  judgment  of  value  and  the  per- 
sonal quality  of  getting  out  of  buyers  the  interesting  points  in 
the  story  to  be  told  are  very  necessary. 

Preparation  necessary 

Experience  and  training  count  a  great  deal  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  copy-writer  and  the  line  of  advancement  is  toward 
head  of  an  office  as  manager.  Some  women  occupy  this  po- 
sition. As  experience  brings  a  good  knowledge  of  merchan- 
dise, advancement  to  buyer's  position  is  possible. 

Financial  return 

Salary  ranges  from  $25  for  a  beginner  to  about  $75  weekly. 

Supply  and  demand 

There  are  places  for  many  women  in  this  particular  field. 

(6)  Artists 
Description  of  occupation 

Commercial  artists  form  an  important  part  of  the  advertis- 
ing staff.  They  sketch  the  merchandise  to  be  advertised,  make 
or  copy  original  catchy  designs,  silhouettes,  borders,  and  lend, 
in  fact,  the  different  artistic  touch  to  the  page. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  advance  from  artist  on  the  staff  of  a  store's  advertising 

department  is  into  the  field  of  commercial  artists  drawing  for 


92  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

style  publications.  This  step  is  often  taken  and  the  larger 
province  is  an  attractive  one,  offering  freedom  of  work  which 
can  be  done  at  home  or  in  a  studio.  The  pay  is  very  good  and 
the  range  wide,  varying  with  the  individual's  ability. 

rV.  Planning  Department 

Description  of  occupation 

A  FEW  large  stores  are  developing  research  organizations 

whose  job  it  is  to  solve  difficult  problems  of  operation,  invent 

and  perfect  system,  save  waste,  discover  weak  spots  and  cure 

them. 

Qualifications 

The  kind  of  ability  needed  here  is  initiative,  power  of  analy- 
sis, a  good  scent  for  faults,  and  a  creative  power  in  thinking 
out  new  and  better  ways  of  doing  things. 

Financial  return 

A  CAPABLE  assistant  in  this  department  would  receive  $30 
or  $40  a  week.  The  head  of  the  department,  a  person  with 
experience  and  proven  abihty,  could  command  $100  a  week. 

'  V.  Accounting,  Supervision  of  Expense.  Statistical 

Work 

Description  of  occupation 

A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  bookkeeping  and 
accounting,  economics,  banking,  and  theory  of  statistics 
should  enable  a  college  graduate  to  find  work  of  this  sort  in  a 
store.  Such  a  girl  would  have  to  make  a  place  for  herself  and 
blaze  a  trail,  as  few  women  are  holding  these  positions. 

Financial  return 

The  writer  knows  of  one  woman  who  is  an  able  supervisor  of 

expense  for  a  store  at  a  salary  of  more  than  $50  a  week. 


DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS         93 

VI.  Secretaries  and  Stenographers 

Description  of  occupation 

Many  college  women  are  taking  advantage  of  stenography 
as  an  entering  wedge  into  the  business  of  a  store.  Sometimes 
the  wedge  forces  a  way  in  to  better  things,  but  very  often  it 
remains  stationary.  A  typewriter  is  a  very  absorbing  instru- 
ment and  its  operation  is  sometimes  apt  to  overcome  thought, 
though  there  are  many  instances  to  the  contrary. 

A  stenographic  position  near  the  top  of  a  store  organization 
is  a  valuable  place  for  the  knowledge  it  gives,  especially  if  the 
occupant  is  a  little  less  stenographer  and  a  little  more  frater- 
nizer,  observer,  and  absorber. 

Financial  return 

Stenographic  positions  pay  $20  a  week  to  begin  with,  and 

experience  makes  them  worth  $25  to  $30. 

Secretary-stenographers,  the  kind  of  positions  college  women 
should  hold,  pay  from  $30  to  $50  a  week.  The  National 
Retail  Dry  Goods  Association  in  its  investigation  on  the  sub- 
ject found  that  some  secretaries  were  paid  as  high  as  $70  a 
week.  There  are  some  exceptional  positions  of  this  sort  of 
great  interest  and  breadth. 

VII.  Restaurant  Work 

Description  of  occupation  —  Financial  return 
For  women  who  are  graduates  of  courses  in  dietetics,  home 
economics,  domestic  science,  as  they  are  variously  termed,  the 
store  tea-room  or  restaurant  offers  a  field  well  paid  and  worthy 
of  the  best  effort  and  brains.  These  store  restaurants  are 
many,  and  they  vary  greatly  in  size  and  number  of  people 
served  daily,  in  fact  from  several  hundred  to  two  thousand  or 
more.  In  a  large  restaurant  the  problems  of  food,  help,  serv- 
ice, entertainment,  atmosphere  and  surroundings,  equipment 
and  decoration  call  for  management  of  no  small  ability.    Here, 


94  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

again,  the  money  return  is  proportionate  to  the  size  and  qual- 
ity of  the  restaurant  and  ranges  from  $75  to  $250  a  week. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  promotion  along  this  Hne  would  be  from  assistant  to 
the  manager  of  a  tea-room  to  actual  manager,  and  from 
manager  in  a  small  place  to  larger  places. 

Qualifications 

The  work  calls  for  a  knowledge  of  foods,  purchasing  abil- 
ity, management  of  people,  and  the  abiHty  to  maintain  high 
standards  of  attractiveness  in  surroundings  and  quahty  in 
food  and  service. 

VIII.  Training  Department 
Description  of  occupation 

The  Training  or  Education  Department  of  a  store  trains  peo- 
ple for  jobs  within  the  store  and  offers  a  very  splendid  field 
for  real  accomplishment  to  college  women. 

Instruction  in  store  system  is  given  in  classes  and  individu- 
ally to  new  employees  who  are  taught  the  rules  of  the  store 
and  the  particulars  of  their  jobs.  Often  a  member  of  the  ed- 
ucation department  works  on  a  job  herself,  learning  it  thor- 
oughly in  order  to  be  able  to  train  people  to  fill  it  efficiently. 
In  this  way  the  education  department  works  continually 
toward  the  improvement  of  system  within  the  store,  to  the 
elimination  of  errors,  carelessness,  ignorance,  inefficiency  and 
waste. 

The  department  may  be  called  into  a  section  of  the  store 
where  things  are  going  badly  with  the  request  that  the  trouble 
be  located  and  steps  taken  to  remedy  it. 

Financial  return 

A  BEGINNER  in  such  work  might  expect  $20  a  week.  Experi- 
ence and  ability  will  make  the  position  worth  $25  to  $30  or  $40 
a  week.  Women  are  filling  creditably  in  many  stores  positions 


DEPARTMENT  STORE  OCCUPATIONS         95 

as  heads  of  the  education  department,  and  have  as  assistants 
two,  three,  five,  ten,  or  even  fifteen  women  and  men,  largely 
college  trained.  These  positions  pay  from  $50  to  $100  a  week;. 

Qualifications 

This  work  is  related  to  employment  work  and  one  might  easily 
lead  into  the  other.  It  gives  employment  at  present  to  perhaps 
the  largest  proportion  of  college  women  in  stores  generally, 

Tactfulness  is  perhaps  a  prime  requisite  in  this  work,  as 
people  usually  resent  efforts  to  improve  them  or  to  interfere 
with  an  established  routine  or  system. 

IX.  Employment  Office  Work 
Description  oj^occupation 

The  scientific  study  of  employment  management  and  the 
largely  increased  appreciation  of  its  importance  in  the  field  of 
industrial  relations  have  created  during  the  past  few  years  a 
great  demand  for  college-trained  people  in  employment  offices 
in  stores. 

The  employment  department  of  a  large  store  with  five 
hundred,  a  thousand,  two,  or  even  three  thousand  workers  is 
a  fascinating  place  for  the  sort  of  college  girl  whose  interests 
lie  in  people  and  who  can  see  in  the  hundreds  who  pass 
through  the  office  weekly  a  vital  drama  of  human  interest. 
Such  an  office  of  a  store  with  two  thousand  workers  would 
have  ordinarily  a  selecter  of  women  employees  and  a  selecter 
of  male  employees.  It  would  have  also  an  employment  man- 
ager, and  it  would  have  several  clerical  or  stenographic  as- 
sistants. The  organization  of  these  offices  in  stores  through- 
out the  country  varies  enormously  in  the  amount  of  care  and 
system  given  to  the  selection  of  employees  and  to  their  well- 
being  after  they  are  employed. 

Training  necessary 

Certain  colleges  are  now  giving  training  in  employment 

management,  and  a  graduate  of  such  a  course  might  step 


96  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

into  a  minor  position  in  a  large  store  or  might  secure  a  place 
a's  selecter  of  help  for  a  small  store. 

Financial  return 

Minor  positions  as  stenographer  and  clerk  would  pay  little 
more  than  $20  a  week  to  a  college  graduate,  but  in  a  well- 
organized  oflSce  there  would  be  opportunity  to  leam  the  sys- 
tems of  selection,  of  wage  payments,  of  commission  plans,  of 
employment  records,  of  matters  pertaining  to  morale  and  all 
the  technique  connected  with  the  oflSce.  Advancement  would 
then  be  either  to  selecter  of  help  within  the  store  itself  or  to 
a  similar  position  elsewhere.  Selecters  are  paid  from  $40  to 
$50  a  week.  They  are  called  upon  to  provide  people  for  posi- 
tions of  all  sorts  within  the  store,  salespeople,  stenographers, 
cashiers,  stock-people,  waitresses,  cleaners,  buyers  and  as- 
sistant buyers,  window  decorators,  advertising  writers,  por- 
ters, cooks  and  elevator  men,  secretaries  and  artists.  They 
are  always  associated  more  or  less  intimately  with  the  lives 
and  family  histories  of  those  they  employ,  for  they  must  often 
help  out  in  case  of  illness,  arbitrate  in  family  troubles  and  in 
disputes  among  the  workers,  correct  in  wrong-doing,  and  aid 
the  ambitious  to  promotion  and  success. 

Few  women  occupy  the  position  of  employment  manager, 
the  head  of  such  an  office,  though  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  be  denied  to  a  woman  of  the  right  type.  Doubtless 
the  many  college  women  now  entering  the  field  will  furnish 
many  such.  The  salary  here  is  from  $75  to  $150  a  week. 


THE  DETECTIVE 

GEORGIA  L.  OAKES 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  a  detective  is  not  only  civil  and  criminal  investi- 
gation, but  includes  what  is  termed  "shadow  work";  i.e., 
following  and  watching  your  "party."  It  is  quite  a  hazardous 


THE  DETECTIVE  97 

calling,  and  yet  women  make  better  detectives  than  men  when 
adapted  for  the  work.  A  woman  can  get  into  many  places 
where  a  man  cannot. 

Training  necessary 

There  are  no  schools  where  practical  training  may  be  ob- 
tained. Money  expended  for  courses  in  the  so-called  detec- 
tive schools  is  wasted.  The  only  way  to  obtain  training,  if 
one  feels  sure  she  is  adapted  for  this  work,  is  to  join  the  ojEce 
force  of  a  reliable  detective  agency  and  serve  apprenticeship 
until  qualified  to  become  a  licensed  detective.  This  usually 
requires  about  three  years.  This  length  of  time  is  required  by 
law  before  a  liefense  is  granted. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  necessary  are  absolute  fearlessness,  good 
eyesight  and  keen  ears,  discretion  and  initiative  to  a  marked 
degree,  and  unlimited  patience.  One  must  be  a  close  observer 
of  human  nature,  possess  a  remarkable  memory  for  faces  plus 
the  art  of  acting  at  ease  in  all  environments. 

Financial  return 

The  remuneration  in  this  field  of  work,  if  successful,  is  much 
larger  than  that  of  other  vocations  open  to  women.  Operatives, 
while  serving  apprenticeship,  imder  the  supervision  of  a  detec- 
tive, get  $4  to  $10  a  day  plus  meals,  room  rent,  and  car  fare. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  is  fascinating  and  never  monotonous.  The  re- 
muneration is  very  generous  when  successful,  but  if  one  goes 
into  this  work  only  for  the  money  and  is  not  particularly  in- 
terested in  the  work,  she  will  never  be  a  success.  Like  all 
other  professions,  one  must  really  love  her  work  if  she  is  to 
reach  the  top. 

When  engaged  in  this  profession  one's  time  is  never  her  own. 
Any  time,  day  or  night,  her  services  may  be  needed. 


98  CAEEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  always  exceeds  the  supply  for  well-trained 
women  detectives. 

Reading 

The  best  reading  which  I  can  recommend  is  a  constant  study 
of  the  newspapers  and  a  careful  following-up  of  the  methods 
and  tactics  employed  by  detectives  on  big  cases. 


THE  FOREIGN  RESIDENT  REPRESENTATIVE 

FAITH  CHIPPERFIELD 

Foreign  Representative,  Paris,  France 

Description  of  occupation 

Foreign  representations  fall  into  three  main  classes:  selling, 

buying,  reporting.  Generally  speaking,  the  duties  of  a  resident 

worker  are  to  further  in  every  possible  way  the  interests  of 

the  business  or  other  home  organization  which  is  employing 

her.  Specifically,  they  vary  according  to  the  nature  of  these 

interests. 

First,  selling.  A  fundamental  interest  for  American  manu- 
factures lies  in  pushing  sales  abroad  of  all  American-made 
goods.  The  work  of  foreign  representatives  of  manufacturing 
industries  will  be  exclusively  selling:  organization  of  sales 
campaigns,  study  of  demand  in  the  given  field,  meeting  de- 
mand, stimulating,  creating  demand,  guidance  of  home  pro- 
duction, etc.  I  do  not  know  personally  as  yet  any  women 
holding  posts  of  foreign  sales  managers,  but  many  American 
men  are  already  successfully  established  in  this  field,  and 
women  will  undoubtedly  follow. 

A  second  new  field  of  work  abroad  now  opening  to  college 
women  is  buying  —  the  expert  selection  of  foreign  merchan- 
dise. Millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  goods  of  foreign  manu- 
facture are  imported  annually  into  America.  These  include 
textiles  of  all  sorts,  silks,  woolens,  cottons,  linens;  laces; 


FOREIGN  RESIDENT  REPRESENTATIVE       99 

embroideries;  gowns,  costumes  and  cloaks,  furs,  millinery, 
blouses,  lingerie;  small  accessories  and  novelties  of  dress; 
babies'  handmade  garments;  gloves;  perfumes;  housewares, 
brushes,  baskets,  china  and  glass;  pictures,  sculpture,  tapes- 
tries, antiques  and  objets  d'art,  jewels,  silver  and  plate;  Orien- 
tal rugs,  etc. 

Foreign  merchandise  enters  America  under  various  aus- 
pices. It  may  be  brought  in  by  importing  companies,  either 
foreign  or  American  in  ownership,  and  sold  at  wholesale  in 
the  United  States,  or  the  great  American  retail  organizations, 
of  the  type  of  Marshall  Field  and  the  John  Wanamaker  stores, 
may  send  their/)wn  buyers  abroad  to  make  their  own  selec- 
tions in  the  original  producing  markets.  Now  it  is  obvious 
that  if  millions  of  American  dollars  are  spent  annually  for 
foreign-made  goods,  the  proper  selection  of  these  goods  is  a 
matter  of  national  importance,  and  that  with  increasing  im- 
ports will  increase  demand  for  buyers  whose  superior  educa- 
tion and  training  fit  them  to  go  direct  to  sources  of  foreign 
supply  and  organize  American  buying  on  lines  of  modern 
economy  and  eflSciency,  reducing  mistakes  and  waste  to  the 
possible  minimum. 

A  recent  development  indicating  the  increasing  emphasis 
placed  on  the  value  of  such  direct  buying  is  the  formation  of 
groups  of  stores  pooling  their  forces  in  single  strong  purchas- 
ing organizations.  An  example  is  the  Retail  Research  Asso- 
ciation of  seventeen  important  stores  from  all  over  America, 
headed  by  the  William  Filene's  Sons  Company  of  Boston, 
who  are  pioneers  in  establishing  group  offices  in  the  world's 
buying  centers. 

Just  recently  a  marked  stimulus  to  buying  has  resulted 
from  the  effects  on  many  foreign  countries  of  the  low  after- 
war  rates  of  exchange.  Volumes  of  purchase  in  many  fields 
has  tripled.  Hence  more  buyers  than  ever  before  are  being 
sent  abroad  to  act  as  resident  foreign  representatives.  Here 
is  a  career  presenting  many  attractive  opportunities,  to  the 
woman  of  college  training.    In  preparation  for  it  a  course 


100  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

in  one  of  the  schools  of  business  now  connected  with  most 
of  our  universities  is  desirable,  followed  by  some  practical 
American  business  experience  in  one  of  our  leading  depart- 
ment stores,  for  example,  in  order  to  acquire  the  utmost 
possible  familiarity  with  actual  demand  and  distribution 
conditions. 

Foreign  reporting  representations,  a  third  field  of  foreign 
work  for  women,  are  thus  far  practically  confined  to  report- 
ing from  Paris  on  women's  fashions.  This  is  done  chiefly 
for  American  newspapers,  syndicates,  or  fashion  magazines. 
The  best  training  is  in  preliminary  work  for  fashion  mag- 
azines in  New  York.  A  training  in  fashion  drawing  is  par- 
ticularly desirable.  The  special  appeal  of  such  work  is  usually, 
of  course,  to  the  art  student  who  wishes  to  avail  herself  of  the 
wonderful  opportunities  for  study  which  Paris  affords. 

Preparation  necessary 

Almost  indispensable  as  a  preparation  for  foreign  selling  is  a 
period  of  years  spent  in  practical  work  in  the  home  field, 
gaining  familiarity  with  the  products  to  be  marketed.  The 
ideal  preparation  combines  with  this  practical  experience  a 
first-hand  knowledge  of  the  people  and  customs  of  the 
country  in  which  one  is  to  reside.  Take,  for  example,  the 
career  of  a  Harvard  man  who  has  been  for  some  years  the 
representative  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  in 
Paris.  This  man,  while  still  in  college,  determined  to  make  his 
home  in  France.  Immediately  after  graduation  he  obtained 
an  appointment  as  Professor  of  English  in  the  Universite  de 
Lyons.  Here,  in  the  center  of  France,  he  remained  for  two 
years,  teaching,  acting  as  athletic  and  football  coach,  in  every 
way  entering  whole-heartedly  into  the  lives  of  the  French 
boy  students  and  their  families.  Thus,  in  addition  to  ac- 
quiring the  most  idiomatic  and  polished  French,  he  formed 
invaluable  associations  and  friendships.  But  teaching  did 
not  offer  sufficient  scope  to  satisfy  this  young  man.  He  re- 
turned to  Harvard,  to  the  Graduate  School  of  Business  Ad- 


FOREIGN  RESIDENT  REPRESENTATIVE     101 

ministration,  choosing  as  his  specialty  the  steel  industry. 
Then,  for  the  sake  of  practical  experience,  he  began  at  the 
foot  of  the  ladder,  in  a  small  job  in  the  New  York  offices  of 
the  Steel  Corporation.  Five  years  later  he  was  rewarded  with 
the  coveted  post  of  Paris  representative.  The  intelligence  and 
thoroughness  which  this  man  put  into  his  preparation  assure 
not  only  his  financial  success,  but  in  addition  a  life  filled  with 
opportunity  for  international  public  service. 

Financial  return 

Foreign  representation  should  be  undertaken  rather  for  the 
interest  it  repre&nts  as  a  life  than  for  prospects  of  imusual 
financial  return.  Generally  speaking,  women's  work  at  home 
is  better  understood,  better  organized,  and  hence  better  paid, 
with  the  probable  exception  of  teaching.  But  the  college- 
trained  woman  will  find  many  rewards  in  the  broadening 
experiences  of  life  abroad,  its  cultural  advantages,  its  op- 
portunities for  service,  its  constant  contacts  with  all  sorts 
of  interesting  people.  At  least  half  her  time  will  usually  be 
spent  outside  her  office.  Foreign  work  often  divides  itself 
into  seasons  of  strenuous  activity,  succeeded  by  seasons  of 
comparative  quiet.  A  holiday  of  two  or  three  weeks  in  the 
year  is  usually  possible.  The  work  itself  often  provides  pleas- 
ant opportunities  for  travel.  / 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

In  European  and  other  foreign  representations,  new  trails  to 
blaze  are  offered  to  college-trained  women.  Girls  who  are 
clever  at  languages  and  whose  family  ties  permit  them  to  live 
abroad  may  wisely  consider  fitting  themselves  to  become  for- 
eign resident  representatives.  Energy,  adaptabiUty,  enthu- 
siasm are  other  qualifications  as  desirable  as  minds  trained 
to  research,  for  our  country  is  as  yet  in  only  the  early  stages 
of  a  period  of  great  international  development,  and  those  who 
would  serve  her  well  should  be  selected  for  personal  character 
and  a  spice  of  true  American  pioneer  spirit. 


102  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  extent  of  this  occupation  has  been  very  limited.  Sta- 
tistics cannot  exist,  for  scarcely  a  score  of  women  have  been 
engaged  in  such  work  up  to  the  present.  The  number  must 
be  greatly  increased  as  American  interest  in  Europe  and  all 
over  the  world  develops.  At  present,  the  chief  centers  for  the 
work  are  London,  Paris,  and  Berlin. 

Reading 

Studies  of  the  country  selected,  such  as  "French  Traits,"  by 
W.  C.  Brownell.  Newspapers,  exportation  and  trade  journals 
of  foreign  and  domestic  origin. 

THE  PROFESSIONAL  SHOPPER 

RUTH  LEIGH 
Author  of  "  The  Human  Side  of  Retail  Selling  " 

Description  of  occupation 

The  professional  shopper  in  a  department  store  works  under 
the  supervision  of  the  comparison  department,  a  branch  of 
the  store  in  which  each  department's  merchandise  is  studied 
and  compared,  by  the  critical  eyes  of  shrewd  buyers  and  mer- 
chandise men,  with  the  merchandise  of  corresponding  de- 
partments in  other  stores. 

The  store's  shoppers,  under  the  direction  of  the  head  of 
the  department,  form  the  personnel  of  the  comparison  office 
—  the  average  New  York  department  store  employing  four 
or  five  shoppers.  The  professional  shopper's  most  important 
duty  is  to  act  as  merchandising  scout  —  to  venture  into 
other  stores,  study  the  stock  and  customers  of  each  depart- 
ment, and  report  back  to  the  comparison  department. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

There  is  very  little  actual  study  work  needed  in  professional 

shopping.  The  shopper  must  be  a  good  judge  of  values  and 


THE  PROFESSIONAL  SHOPPER  103 

possess  a  thorough  knowledge  of  merchandise  in  every  line  — 
from  wearing  apparel  to  furniture.  She  must  be  familiar  with 
merchandising  terms  and  technical  textile  terms.  The  only- 
course  I  know  which  would  prove  of  help  is  the  course  in  tex-« 
tiles  given  by  some  of  the  large  salesmanship  schools  and  by 
some  colleges. 

A  professional  shopper  will  do  well  to  read  and  study  care* 
fully  the  daily  newspaper  advertisements  of  the  large  de- 
partment stores,  and,  if  possible,  follow  up  sales  to  note  the 
responses;  the  values  given  when  merchandise  is  glowingly 
described;  and^nost  important  of  all,  the  comparative  val- 
ues offered  by  the  different  stores. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

There  are  splendid  opportunities  for  advancement  because  a 
shopper  always  has  the  opportunity  to  become  head  of  the 
comparison  department.  This  latter  position  offers  a  salary 
of  from  $5000  to  $10,000  a  year.  There  are  not  many  stores 
that  have  comparison  departments  (they  are  being  rapidly 
organized  as  competition  develops),  and  for  that  reason  pro- 
fessional shopping  is  a  profession  that  offers  an  encouraging 
future. 

There  are  many  and  rapidly  increasing  opportunities  for 
the  professional  shopper  because  the  stores  are  constantly 
installing  comparison  departments  to  study  competitive 
merchandise.  A  good  shopper  can  make  a  position  for  her- 
self by  convincing  a  store  that  it  needs  her  services.  About 
65  per  cent  of  the  large  department  stores  in  the  East  have 
shoppers,  and  there  are  many  large  specialty  shops  that  could 
use  the  services  of  shoppers. 

Financial  returns 

A  SHOPPER  gets  from  $18  to  $30  a  week  if  she  works  on  straight 

salary.  Some  stores  require  shoppers  only  a  few  days  a  week, 

and  when  they  work  by  the  day,  their  pay  is  often  $5  a 

day. 


104  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Qualifications  necessary 

A  SHOPPER  must  possess  above  all  good  judgment.  She  is 
given  the  firm's  money  to  spend  —  and  she  must  spend  it 
where  the  merchandise  she  brings  back  will  be  most  helpful 
to  buyers  in  seeing  what  the  other  stores  are  offering. 

She  must  have  a  clear  head  —  to  make  comparisons  —  and 
a  good  memory,  for  a  shopper  can  seldom  take  notes  in  the 
store  for  fear  of  being  recognized.  Often  she  must  remem- 
ber prices  and  merchandise  until  she  gets  outside  the  store 
to  write  them  down. 

She  must,  as  stated  before,  know  merchandise  from  the 
technical  and  from  the  value  points  of  view. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Professional  shopping  is  pleasant  work  because  it  keeps 
one  outside  most  of  the  day.  It  offers  the*  shopper  the  oppor- 
tunity to  become  acquainted  with  the  stores  of  her  city  and 
to  know,  for  her  personal  information,  where  best  values  may 
be  secured. 

The  disadvantages  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  work  is  often 
tiring.  Walking  around  all  day  from  store  to  store,  and  re- 
turning sometimes  three  or  four  times  during  the  day  to  re- 
port at  the  comparison  oflfice,  are  likely  to  use  up  all  one's 
strength  and  energy.  Unless  a  young  woman  can  stand  on 
her  feet  and  walk  around  all  day,  the  work  will  prove  too  hard 
for  her,  as  she  must  be  out  in  rainy,  cold,  and  snowy  weather, 
as  well  as  in  the  hottest  days  of  summer. 

Suggested  reading 

The  daily  newspapers  are  the  most  valuable  things  for  a 
shopper  to  read  because  she  acquaints  herself  with  what  the 
stores  are  offering  in  merchandise.  The  more  she  knows 
about  textiles,  leathers,  furniture  (various  periods,  etc.),  the 
broader  her  range  of  merchandise  knowledge.  Books  on  the 
different  classes  of  goods  will  help  her  in  a  technical  way. 


THE  STYLE  EXPERT  105 

THE  STYLE  EXPERT      \  / 

CHARLOTTE  C.  SWEENEY 

Jordan  Marsh  Company,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

A  buyer's  position  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  busi- 
ness world  if  the  person  is  adapted  to  this  line  of  work,  and 
it  is  full  of  inspiration  and  life.  To  be  a  buyer  is  not  as  easy  as 
it  seems,  becaiifee  the  position  is  full  of  responsibilities  and 
one  can  only  be  successful  who  has  learned  the  game  from 
the  bottom  up. 

The  main  thing  to  know  is  the  particular  thing  that  appeals 
to  the  public,  and  then  go  out  and  get  it.  Take,  for  instance, 
tHe  buying  of  outer  apparel;  coats,  suits,  gowns.  Before  any 
actual  work  is  done,  all  markets  are  searched  for  the  best  and 
most  appealing  styles,  then  they  are  brought  before  the  sales- 
people, who  are  continually  meeting  the  trade,  and  it  is  sur- 
prising to  know  how  many  practical  and  conservative  ideas 
can  be  obtained  in  this  way.  Many  times  one  of  the  best  sell- 
ing models  for  the  season  has  been  obtained  from  these  sug- 
gestions. A  buyer's  work  is  not  alone  the  buying  of  merchan- 
dise, but  it  is  also  essential  to  be  a  good  executive  and  a  dis- 
ciplinarian. A  good  high-school  training  is  very  essential,  as 
a  good  buyer  is  also  a  good  accountant  in  keeping  the  ex- 
penses of  her  department  down  to  a  minimum. 

Preparation  necessary 

Today  there  are  special  schools  of  salesmanship  which  give 
to  one  the  first  rudiments  of  selling.  It  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  sell  before  taking  the  second  step,  as  direct  information  can 
be  gained  as  to  the  wants  of  the  customer  and  the  public,  and 
also,  mistakes  in  cut,  material,  and  style  can  be  detected. 

After  all  is  said  and  done,  no  school  can  really  graduate  a 
buyer,  as  the  best  school  is  the  mixing  in  with  and  meeting 
the  public  right  in  a  store,  and  above  all  it  gives  one  a  special 


106  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

touch  with  human  nature  and  all  temperaments.  If  one  really 
starts  in  with  a  buyership  in  mind,  it  is  only  a  matter  of  a 
short  time  and  then  opportunity.  I  have  seen  many  cases 
where  people  have  waited  all  their  lives  and  never  had  the 
opportunity,  and  I  have  seen  girls  start  in  as  stock  girls  and 
climb  the  ladder  unflinchingly  and  steadily  until  they  have 
reached  the  goal  they  have  set  out  for:  first  as  stock  girls,  then 
clericals,  where  they  had  the  chance  to  learn  materials,  the 
cost  and  retail,  the  process  of  profit  and  loss,  and  how  each 
garment  is  marked,  after  which  they  were  made  salespersons, 
so  they  could  mingle  with  the  trade  and  gain  both  knowledge 
of  customers*  wants  and  more  poise  for  themselves.  When 
they  had  obtained  all  this  knowledge,  next  they  were  made 
assistants  to  the  buyer,  to  learn  the  more  confidential  details  of 
how  to  be  a  buyer,  and  finally  when  the  vacancy  occurred,  they 
were  made  buyers,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  have  they  failed  to  be 
successful  who  have  had  this  training,  because  they  have  taken 
each  phase  of  the  work  separately  and  learned  it  perfectly. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  of  a  buyer  are  what  one  makes  them. 
By  that  I  mean  you  can  get  what  you  think  you  are  worth, 
from  $1000  to  $15,000,  but  in  most  cases  the  average  salary  is 
between  $5000  and  $10,000  unless  one  is  especially  good  at  her 
particular  line  of  work. 

Qualifications 

The  natural  qualifications  for  a  successful  buyer  are  persoi^- 
ality,  afiFability,  adaptability,  and  perseverance.  If  one  has 
not  these  qualities  it  makes  the  game  so  much  the  harder,  and 
in  many  cases  they  can  be  acquired  only  by  painstaking  work 
and  thought. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  position  of  buyer  also  has  its  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages, but  to  me  its  advantages  are  much  in  the  foreground. 


IN  RAILROAD  SERVICE  107 

First  it  provides  a  wonderful  chance  to  meet  human  nature 
and  to  study  the  likes,  dislikes,  and  views  of  the  individual. 
The  opportunity  is  afforded  the  average  buyer  for  traveling, 
not  only  in  our  Eastern  markets,  but  often  in  the  far  markets 
of  the  Orient,  as  well  as  the  more  usual  markets  of  Paris  and 
London. 

It  may  have  its  disadvantages  of  close  confinement  to  the 
work  for  short  neriods  of  time,  but  in  most  cases  the  seasons 
are  short,  and  often,  after  a  short  and  confining  season  of 
several  weeks,  comes  a  duller  season,  thus  allowing  a  buyer 
to  get  the  rest  and  relaxation  she  needs. 

The  work  is  well  divided  and  plans  itself  out  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  concerned.  To-day  more  people  are  taking  up 
this  vocation  as  a  better  means  of  getting  ahead,  and  in  sev- 
eral stores  there  are  special  classes  of  boys  and  girls  from  our 
largest  colleges,  as  Harvard,  Dartmouth,  Tech,  Yale,  Welles- 
ley,  Smith,  who  are  taking  special  courses  in  store  system 
and  are  willingly  giving  their  time  for  half -salary  to  learn  to 
be  buyers. 

Supply  and  demand 

To-day  the  demand  is  greater  than  the  supply,  due  in  part 
to  the  wrong  impressions  given  our  young  women  of  this  kind 
of  work.  In  some  departments  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
have  women  buyers,  and  while  men  fill  the  want  for  the  time 
being,  these  positions  are  only  waiting  for  the  right  women 
buyers  who  will  undertake  the  responsibility. 

WOMEN  IN  RAILROAD  SERVICE 

PAULINE  GOLDMARK 

Manager  WomerCs  Service  Section,  United  States  Railroad  Administration 

Occupations 

College  graduates  will  be  interested  chiefly  in  the  clerical 
and  supervisory  positions  of  the  railroad  service.  There  is 
an  enormous  amount  of  recording,  accounting,  billing,  and 


108  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

abstracting  to  be  done  in  railroad  offices.  This  involves 
clerical  work  of  all  kinds,  besides  stenography,  typewriting, 
and  operation  of  comptometer  and  computing  machines,  etc. 
Women  with  executive  ability  are  now  acting  as  heads  of  typ- 
ing and  comptometer  bureaus;  as  head  clerks  in  offices  of 
various  kinds,  and  as  private  secretaries  to  officials.  They  are 
employed  also  as  cashiers,  station  agents,  and  telegraph 
operators,  and  as  supervisors  appointed  by  various  railroads 
to  look  after  the  special  interests  of  women  employees.  Prob- 
ably of  greater  interest  to  college  graduates  are  the  positions 
requiring  special  training  as  draftsmen  and  as  chemists,  and 
laboratory  assistants  in  purchasing  departments. 

Preparation 

Business  training  is  the  best  preparation  for  the  clerical  po- 
sitions. The  initial  jobs  usually  require  experience  in  type- 
writing, comptometer  operating,  or  accounting.  Knowledge 
of  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  classifications,  of  rates, 
and  such  special  railroad  codes  as  the  Master  Car  Builders* 
Code,  is  essential  for  advancement  into  the  higher-paid  po- 
sitions. For  work  on  claims  railroad  experience  is  necessary. 
For  chemists  and  laboratory  assistants  college  courses  in 
chemistry  and  physics  are  required. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  seniority  rules  which  are  observed  in  making  appoint- 
ments and  promotions  require  a  newcomer  to  begin  at  the 
bottom  of  the  ladder,  except  occasionally  in  positions  requir- 
ing special  skill  or  experience  for  which  none  of  the  regular 
employees  can  qualify.  Promotion  does  not  depend  upon  the 
personal  favor  of  any  official.  Whenever  vacancies  occur, 
positions  are  filled  according  to  seniority  if  the  applicant  is 
fitted  by  merit  and  ability.  This  is  provided  for  in  the  agree- 
ments of  the  Railroad  Brotherhoods  with  the  managements. 
It  is  necessary  for  an  ambitious  girl  to  fit  herself  for  such  ad- 
vancement by  close  attention  to  the  work  of  the  office  as  a 
whole  and  by  continued  study. 


IN  RAILROAD  SERVICE  109 

Financial  return 

Under  federal  control  of  the  railroads  a  minimum  salary  of 


'.50  was  fixed  for  all  positions  requiring  clerical  ability. 
Women  now  holding  executive  positions  are  receiving  as  high 
as  $225  a  month. 

Qualifications    / 

Employees  who  desire  to  advance  to  the  higher-paid  execu- 
tive positions  must  be  willing  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  in 
the  less  interesting  jobs.  The  qualifications  needed  are  ability 
to  work  well  with  the  men  in  the  oflfice,  and  if  a  woman  de- 
sires to  be  head  of  a  bureau,  she  must  have  capacity  to  deal 
skillfully  with  the  women  employees. 

Advantages 

In  railroad  work  women  are  entitled  to  the  same  rates  of  pay 
as  the  men  employed  in  the  same  class  of  work.  They  are 
employed  in  an  occupation  in  which  collective  bargaining 
is  recognized  and  favoritism  as  a  factor  in  advancement  is 
ruled  out.  They  are  accepted  on  an  equal  footing  with  men  in 
the  clerks*  organization,  namely,  the  Brotherhood  of  Rail- 
way Clerks,  and  share  in  all  the  rights  which  the  organiza- 
tion has  gained. 

Disadvantages 

The  working  day  amounts  to  eight  hours  with  a  half -day  on 

Saturday.   There  is  the  usual  confinement  of  office  work. 

Extent  of  occupation 

On  January  1,  1920,  81,000  women  were  employed  in  rail- 
road service,  approximately  70  per  cent  of  them  in  clerical 
work.  According  to  present  indications  the  figures  will  con- 
tinue at  their  present  level,  though  there  is  keen  competition 
with  men  in  all  the  higher  positions.  Applicants  can  most 
easily  secure  employment  in  the  larger  cities. 


110  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  service 

Railroad  work  presents  a  rare  opportunity  for  women  to 
prove  their  efficiency  in  the  same  field  with  men  and  on  the 
same  terms  as  men.  In  the  supervisory  positions  they  can 
find  ample  scope  for  their  capacities,  and  especially  the  super- 
visors of  women's  employees  have  it  in  their  power  greatly  to 
improve  the  general  conditions  of  work. 

Suggested  reading 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission  reports,  annual  reports 
of  the  United  States  Railroad  Administration,  especially  re- 
ports of  Women's  Service  Section,  1918  and  1919. 


DRAMATICS 
THE  PAGEANT  DIRECTOR 

HAZEL  MacKAYE 

Director  of  Bureau tf  Pageantry  and  the  Dramas  Y.W.C.A.,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

The  director  has  the  general  supervision  of  both  the  dramatic 
and  civic  aspects  of  a  pageant.  Not  only,  therefore,  must  she 
be  well  equipped  as  a  dramatic  producer,  but  she  must  be 
well  versed  also  in  the  technique  of  community  organization. 
If  the  pageant  is  given  on  an  extensive  scale,  experts  in  both 
dramatic  and  civic  activities  are  engaged  to  assist  the  pageant 
director. 

To  be  a  good  dramatic  producer  one  must  understand  the 
technical  side  of  play  production,  such  as  scenic  design,  light- 
ing, costuming,  etc.,  and  the  interpretive  side,  such  as  voice 
production,  individual  and  mass  action,  and  at  least  a  dis- 
criminating knowledge  of  music  and  dancing. 

To  be  a  good  community  organizer  one  must  understand 
how  to  make  the  people  of  a  community  function  cooperatively 
in  the  preparation  of  the  pageant  as  well  as  in  the  actual  per- 
formance. This  means  that  first  an  analysis  must  be  made  of 
the  technical  and  artistic  needs  of  the  pageant,  and  that  then 
these  activities  must  be  so  assigned  through  the  formation  of 
committees  that  the  people  "build"  the  pageant  themselves 
instead  of  having  it  "made  to  order"  for  them  by  a  handful 
of  leaders.  Community  drama  is  the  self-expression  of  the 
entire  group  which  participates,  not  of  a  part  of  that  group. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  best  way  to  procure  training  in  the  art  of  dramatic  pro- 
duction is  to  appear  in  plays  under  able  and  experienced  pro- 
fessional directors.  This  establishes  a  standard  of  excellence 


112  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

that  will  be  of  the  greatest  possible  future  value.  Since,  how- 
ever, this  is  a  kind  of  opportunity  not  often  available  to  any 
but  the  most  gifted,  the  next  best  way  to  secure  this  training 
is  to  be  associated  with  one  or  more  of  the  many  and  promis- 
ing "Little  Theaters"  which  are  springing  up  throughout  the 
country. 

But  this  is  valuable  largely  for  the  technical  knowledge  ac- 
quired and  the  standards  of  finish  and  precision  in  interpreta- 
tion which  are  learned.  Neither  the  professional  stage  nor  the 
Little  Theater  give  any  training  in  the  large  brush  effects  of 
pageantry  or  in  the  constantly  changing  and  evolving  drama- 
tic forms  which  are  being  written  for  community  drama. 

The  best  possible  all-round  training,  after  having  acquired 
a  technical  knowledge  of  dramatic  production,  is  to  assist 
a  pageant  director  of  established  reputation  in  several  pro- 
ductions. This  gives  one  a  practical,  working  knowledge  of 
community  organization  as  no  theoretical  study  of  it  can 
ever  give,  as  well  as  a  comprehension  of  the  larger  aspects  of 
pageantry. 

Several  universities  and  schools  give  courses  in  pageantry 
and  the  drama  which  are  of  value  to  beginners.  Further  in- 
formation regarding  these  places  will  be  given  upon  applying 
to  the  Bureau  of  Pageantry  and  the  Drama,  Y.W.C.A.,  600 
Lexington  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Undergraduate  students  who  are  thinking  of  community 
drama  as  a  vocational  field  should  specialize  in  the  history 
of  the  drama,  and,  if  possible,  in  dramatic  writing  as  well  as 
in  all  the  graphic  arts.  In  addition,  students  should  study  so- 
ciology and  related  subjects  in  order  to  have  the  social  vision 
which  is  as  necessary  to  success  in  this  profession  as  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  drama. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  field  of  community  drama  is  practically  untouched  soil. 
There  are  no  limits  to  the  opportunities  for  those  who  are 
equipped  by  nature  and  by  training  for  this  kind  of  activity. 


THE  PAGEANT  DIRECTOR  113 

Financial  return 

At  present  the  fee  for  a  pageant  director  varies  from  $25  a 
week  to  $300  a  week.  This  profession  pays  better  than  most 
professions  open  to  women,  but  the  work  is  usually  inter- 
mittent rather  tljan  regular. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Dramatic  instinct  of  a  high  order  is  the  first  essential:  in 
short,  a  native  gift  for  the  producer's  art.  The  next  most  im- 
portant requirement  is  executive  ability.  A  magnetic  per- 
sonality, the  power  to  inspire  and  lead,  is  also  a  very  great 
asset.  The  degree  in  which  the  pageant  director  possesses 
these  three  qualities  will  be  the  measure  of  her  success  in  the 
profession. 

In  the  present  largely  unorganized  state  of  community 
drama,  skill  and  training  are  not  demanded  as  much  as  the 
native  qualities  described  above.  But  as  time  goes  on  pre- 
paratory training  will  be  required  more  and  more. 

Advantages 

There  is  probably  no  more  fascinating  or  repaying  profes- 
sion than  that  of  a  pageant  director.  Not  only  is  one  dealing 
with  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  the  arts,  the  drama,  but 
one  is  dealing  with  human  nature  in  some  of  its  most  genial 
moods.  Everybody  loves  a  "show"  and  loves  to  be  in  one. 
Some  of  the  preliminary  steps,  however,  often  require  skillful 
handling  on  the  part  of  the  director,  but  the  performance  — 
if  a  creditable  one  —  invariably  dispels  any  ill-feeling  that 
may  previously  have  existed.  Happiness  and  well-wishing 
abound  in  a  community  after  a  successful  pageant  has  been 
held.  But  a  pageant  director  must  have  robust  health  if  she 
wishes  to  enter  this  profession  since  the  nervous  and  physical 
strain  of  producing  a  pageant  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated. 

Extent  of  occupation 

At  present  the  demand  for  good  pageant  directors  far  ex- 
ceeds the  supply.    In  ever-increasing  numbers  community 


114  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

centers,  schools,  churches,  and  welfare  organizations  are  ask- 
ing for  permanent  dramatic  directors  while  the  demand  for 
occasional  pageant  directors  is  even  more  urgent.  It  is  im- 
possible to  say  how  many  such  workers  are  already  engaged 
in  this  field,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  number  of  thoroughly 
well-equipped  and  skilled  pageant  directors  in  this  country 
is  merely  nominal. 

So  it  is  self-evident  that  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  more. 

Suggested  reading 

A  FEW  of  the  best  books  on  Community  Drama  and  related 
subjects  are: 

"The  Civic  Theatre  "  —  Percy  MacKaye.   Mitchell  Kenner- 

ley.  New  York. 
"Community  Drama.   Its  Motive  and  Method  of  Neighbor- 

liness" — Percy  MacKaye.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 

Boston. 
"The  Playhouse  and  the  Play"  — Percy  MacKaye.    The 

Macmillan  Company,  New  York. 
** Festivals  and  Plays"  —  Percival  Chubb.   Harper  &  Bros., 

New  York. 
"Community  Drama  and  Pageantry" — Mary  Porter  Beegle 

and  Jack  Randall  Crawford.    Yale  University  Press, 

New  Haven. 
"Towards  a  New  Theater"  —  Gordon  Craig.  J.  M.  Bent  & 

Sons,  London. 
"The  Theatre  Advancing"  —  Gordon  Craig.   Little,  Brown 

&  Co.,  Boston. 
"The  Little  Theater  in  the  United  States"  —  Constance 

D*Arcy  MacKay.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  New  York. 
"The  New  Movement  in  the  Theater"  —  Sheldon  Cheney. 

Mitchell  Kennerley,  New  York. 


THE  PLAYWRIGHT  115 

THE  PLAYWRIGHT 

RACHEL  CROTHERS 

Author  of  "  Thirty-Nine  East"  "  Old  Lady  31,"  "A  Little  Journey  " 

Description  of  occupation 

The  playwright  may  acquire  a  technical  knowledge  of  his 
craft  through  experience,  observation,  and  general  work  in 
the  theater,  but  the  real  dramatist  is  the  dramatist  by  gift 
and  instinct  only,  technical  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  con- 
structive side  of  the  play  coming  from  work  and  experience 
as  a  matter  of  course.  But  without  this  innate  gift,  this  pe- 
culiar instinct  for  the  dramatic  —  the  seeing  life  with  the 
eye  of  an  interpreter  —  all  the  work,  study,  and  experience 
in  the  world  is  of  no  avail. 

Preparation  necessary 

There  are  now  in  most  colleges  departments  for  playwriting 
of  which  Professor  Baker's  at  Harvard  is  the  most  conspic- 
uously successful.  Such  courses  are  necessarily  and  unavoid- 
ably academic,  however  fine  in  intention,  and  the  dramatists 
who  come  out  of  them  would  have  been  dramatists  without 
them  entirely  according  to  their  own  ability.  However,  such 
study  must  necessarily  be  useful  in  a  certain  elementary  way, 
but  by  no  means  conducive  to  great  inspiration  or  able  in  any 
way  to  arouse  the  fire  of  dramatic  instinct  unless  it  is  so  strong 
and  compelling  a  gift  in  the  student  that  he  must  seize,  de- 
vour, and  digest  anything  and  everything  which  he  touches 
in  any  way  which  may  help  to  build  for  him  the  fine,  intricate, 
delicate,  and  ruthlessly  difficult  structure  of  playwriting. 

To  enter  the  market,  to  write  a  play,  and  to  submit  it  to 
play  brokers  or  managers  —  profiting  by  such  criticism  as 
may  come  from  them  —  working  and  re-writing,  and  then 
when  at  last  the  play  is  launched  and  produced  and  the  public 
speaks  either  in  severe  condemnation,  lukewarm  interest,  or 
ardent  praise  —  heeding  these,  gratefully  accepting  severest 


116  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

criticism  —  this  is  the  school  for  playwrights.  None  other  is 
of  the  least  avail  in  the  long  run  for  professional  success. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

As  to  advantages  and  disadvantages,  the  real  dramatist  loves 
his  work,  and  the  uncertainty  of  waiting,  the  gigantic  chances 
he  runs  in  getting  his  play  produced,  and  then  in  pleasing 
the  public,  are  of  small  importance.  As  to  advantages,  the 
facts  that  he  may  write  when  and  where  he  pleases,  in  regular 
or  irregular  hours  or  sections  of  time,  that  he  need  have  no 
office  expenses  or  business  equipment,  make  it  especially  an 
attractive  work  for  women. 

Suggestive  reading 

The  Brander  Matthews  work,  "A  Study  of  the  Drama,"  on 
play  construction  I  believe  to  be  as  valuable  or  perhaps  more 
so  than  any  other;  but,  alas,  one  must  already  be  a  play- 
wright to  really  appreciate  the  fineness  of  the  work.  The 
understanding  of  what  is  dramatic  requires  a  gift,  and  its 
application  in  the  form  of  a  play  can  be  realized  only  by  the 
mind  which  already  knows. 


THE  PROFESSIONAL  STORY-TELLER 

^^  ANNA  CURTIS  CHANDLER 

Metropolitan  Art  Museum,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

Although  I  have  specialized  in  the  telling  of  stories  which 
can  be  illustrated  by  objects  of  art  —  painting,  sculpture, 
armor,  pottery,  etc.  —  yet  the  general  principles  underlying 
the  telling  of  the  stories  are  the  same,  although  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  story-teller  would  be  necessarily  somewhat  dif- 
ferent. 

Story-telling  in  the  olden  days  was  one  of  the  favorite  en- 
tertainments of  kings  and  the  story-teller  an  honored  person 


THE  PROFESSIONAL  STORY-TELLER        117 

at  the  court  of  the  king.  Later,  it  was  kept  alive  in  the  West- 
ern lands  only  by  the  mothers,  fathers,  and  teachers,  though 
in  the  Eastern  lands  it  has  always  been  a  part  of  the  lives  of 
the  people.  To-day,  however,  the  story-teller  is  once  more 
given  his  place  and  story-telling  is  definitely  recognized  among 
the  various  fields  of  work  for  men  and  women.  Story-telling 
is  becoming  an  important  part  of  the  school  work,  for  very 
often  truths  can  be  best  presented  in  this  vital  and  concrete 
way. 

Preparation  —  Qualifications  desirable 

A  DEFINITE,  "hard-and-fast"  statement  concerning  training 

cannot  be  given.  The  gift  for  story-telling  must  be  within  the 

person  if  he  or  she  is  to  be  successful.  An  acquired,  too  much 

studied  art,  takes  away  from  the  spontaneity  and  naturalness 

which  make  up  the  charm  of  the  story-teller  and  from  the 

freshness. 

If  one  is  to  specialize  in  art  stories,  for  instance,  there  is,  of 
course,  the  necessary  training  in  the  History  of  Art  and  enough 
of  the  practical  work  to  enable  one  to  know  how  to  see  and 
enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  many  objects  of  art,  and  how  to  make 
others  see  and  enjoy  beauty  through  these  various  stories  il- 
lustrated by  the  works  of  art.  The  Art  Department  of  Welles-, 
ley  College  offers  a  splendid  training  of  this  kind.  What  seems 
to  me  the  most  important  training  is  that  of  the  voice. 
However  good  a  voice  one  may  naturally  have,  it  is  just  as 
important  for  the  story-teller  as  for  the  singer  to  keep  it  in 
training,  so  that  its  power  and  quality  will  constantly  be  of 
the  best. 

j;     Columbia  University  offers  an  invaluable  course  in  public 
speaking  which  includes  voice  and  breathing  exercises,  train- 
^  ing  in  force,  practice  in  all  kinds  of  speaking  before  audiences  , 
J  with  different  aims  in  view,  such  as  clearness,  entertainment,  , 
Sind  persuasion.    Self-confidence,  enlargement  of  the  vocab- 
ulary, control  of  the  voice,  natural  gestures,  all  come  into  this 
course.  Very  important,  also,  are  the  voice  and  breathing  ex- 


118  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

ercises  similar  to  those  given  singers.  These  give  training  in 
quality,  power,  strengthening  of  palatal  and  nasal  muscles, 
breathing,  etc.  This  sort  of  training  is  much  more  important 
than  elocution  lessons,  for  the  principal  thing  in  story-telling 
is  to  be  natural,  to  keep  the  voice  under  as  perfect  control  as 
possible,  yet  without  affectation.  Personality  counts  for  a 
great  deal,  and  a  sincere  interest  in  people,  especially  children, 
is  necessary. 

There  must  be  no  barrier  between  the  story-teller  and  her 
audience;  she  is  unlike  an  actor  in  that.  An  actor  is  some  one 
else,  but  the  story-teller  is  always  essentially  herself,  even 
when  taking  the  different  parts  in  the  story  in  order  to  make 
them  more  real.  The  story-teller  must  live  out  her  story  to 
make  it  most  vivid  and  effective;  and  this  is  why  —  or  at 
least  one  of  the  reasons  —  that  I  always  write  or  adapt  my 
stories.  An  important  qualification  of  a  story-teller  is  this 
ability  to  write  her  own  stories  or  adapt  the  legends  she  wishes 
to  use.  The  story-teller  must  throw  herself  into  the  different 
parts  of  the  story  and  make  the  characters  live  for  the  audi- 
ence, and  of  course  become  so  familiar  with  them  that  there 
will  be  no  hunting  for  words.  Constant  practice,  and  the 
actual  telling  of  stories  to  audiences  of  children  and  grown 
people  at  every  opportunity,  make  this  possible. 

Supply  and  demand 

I  CAN  give  no  statistics  of  the  extent  of  the  demand  for  story- 
tellers or  of  the  different  financial  returns,  but  with  the  grow- 
ing demand  for  story-telling  in  schools,  playgrounds,  settle- 
ments, libraries,  churches,  and  the  specialized  story-telling 
in  museums,  there  surely  is  a  growing  field  for  it. 

Advantages 

In  regard  to  the  advantages,  the  happiness  gained  from  the 
profession  of  story-telling,  I  always  feel  like  echoing  the  words 
of  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin:  "I  had  rather  be  the  children's 
story-teller  than  the  Queen's  favorite  or  the  King's  counselor.'* 


EDUCATION 
THE  ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL  TEACHER 

LULU  M.  STEDMAN 

Southern  California  Branch,  University  of  California,  Los  Angeles 

Description  of  occupation 

This  vocation  consists  of  teaching  all  subjects  in  grades  1  to 
6,  and  sometimes  the  7th  and  8th  grades  are  included.  The 
time  actually  spent  in  teaching  children  during  the  day  is 
from  9  A.M.  to  3  p.m.  Most  teachers  arrive  from  8  to  8.30  and 
do  not  leave  the  building  until  4.30  or  5.  Much  time  is  spent 
in  attendance  at  afternoon  meetings  with  supervisors  of  spe- 
cial subjects. 

Preparation  or  traimng  necessary 

The  training  necessary  to  become  an  elementary-school 
teacher  requires  an  elementary-school  plus  a  high-school 
education  with  normal-school  training  in  addition.  A  move- 
ment is  on  hand  to  establish  a  four-year  course  leading  to  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  the  Science  of  Education. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  very  little  opportunity  for  advancement.  The  great 
majority  remain  in  the  grades.  The  only  advanced  position 
in  line  is  a  principalship  of  an  elementary  school.  These  po- 
sitions are  so  few  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  teachers  that 
there  is  very  little  opportunity  for  the  average  teacher  to  pro- 
gress. Teachers  who  supplement  training  by  a  college  degree, 
or  specialized  training  in  the  fine  arts,  are  advanced  to  posi- 
tions as  supervisors  of  education  or  special  arts  work. 

Financial  return 

The  remuneration  is  quite  inadequate,  but  the  present  teacher 

shortage  is  forcing  a  better  salary.  In  California  a  movement 


120  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

is  on  foot  to  establish  a  $1500  nunimum  for  the  elementary 
teacher. 

Qualifications  desirable 

One  must  possess  sympathetic  understanding  of  children,  an 
attractive  personality,  a  pleasant,  well-modulated  voice, 
good  health,  resourcefulness,  industry,  and  honesty.  Com- 
bined with  these  she  must  have  the  power  of  understanding  a 
child's  capacities  and  limitations;  skill  in  teaching  methods 
and  habits  of  study;  ability  to  eliminate  non-essentials  of 
subject-matter,  and  to  be  able  to  individualize  instruction. 

Advantages 

This  field  of  work  offers  one  a  good  social  position  and  brings 

one  in  contact  with  educated  people. 

Disadvantages 

Among  the  disadvantages  is  the  confinement  indoors  which 
causes  nervous  strain  inimical  to  physical  and  mental  health. 
Teachers  become  supersensitive  and  non-social,  because  so 
much  energy  is  spent  in  school  and  in  teaching  and  prep- 
aration that  they  are  too  weary  after  school  hours  to  enjoy 
social  contacts. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  demand  for  elementary-school  teachers  far  exceeds  the 
supply.  Teachers  are  leaving  the  profession  daily  in  great 
numbers,  and  the  number  of  those  preparing  for  teaching  is 
decreasing  steadily  and  alarmingly. 

Reading 

I  ADVISE  the  student  to  read  and  get  a  good  foundation  in  the 
following  sciences,  as  education  is  based  on  them:  Biology; 
Sociology;  Physiology;  Psychology. 
"What  is  Education?"  —  Moore. 

"Suggestions  of  Modern  Science  in  Education"  —  Jen- 
nings, Watson,  Thomas,  and  Meyer. 


THE  KINDERGARTNER  121 

"Educational  Measurements"  —  Starch. 

"The  Teacher's  Philosophy   in  School  and  Out"  — Wm. 

DeWitt  Hyde. 
"Better  Rural  Schools"  —  Betts  and  Hall. 
"The  Vocational  Guidance  Movement"  —  John  M.  Brewer. 
"The  Teacher's  Health"  —  Terman. 


THE  KINDERGARTNER 

GERTRUDE  L.  COURSEN 

Description  of  occupation 

The  kindergarten  aims  to  give  the  child,  through  "playful 
work  and  workful  play,"  opportunity  to  express  himself,  to 
develop  his  technical  skill,  his  ability  to  think  clearly  and 
logically.  In  the  daily  kindergarten  programme,  every  phase 
of  the  child's  nature  is  considered.  The  kindergarten  group 
of  which  he  is  a  member  must  be  governed  by  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  democracy  if  the  child  is  to  be  prepared  for  citizenship 
in  a  country  whose  aim  is  freedom  in  the  highest  sense.  This 
freedom  is  freedom  under  law;  the  child  can  be  free  only  if 
he  learns  to  cooperate  with  others,  if  he  learns  the  joy  of  giv- 
ing, the  rich  experience  which  comes  from  receiving  from 
others  that  his  own  life  may  become  enlarged.  He  is  given  the 
opportunity  to  discover  through  daily  experience  that  by 
obeying  the  laws  of  punctuality,  cleanliness,  order,  obedience, 
self-control,  and  cooperation  he  may  become  truly  free.  The 
Jdndergarten  does  not  dictate  and  outline,  saying  to  the  child, 
"You  must  think,  feel,  and  act  thus."  It  presents  to  him 
through  song,  story,  picture,  game,  and  experience  life's  ideals 
and  makes  these  ideals  alluring,  so  that  unconsciously  the 
child's  sympathy  is  aroused  and  he  begins  to  feel  his  true  re- 
lationship to  Nature,  Humanity,  and  God.  The  child  loves 
to  be  happily  employed,  and  through  the  hand-work,  techni- 
cal skill  is  acquired  and  a  practical  interest  in  the  industries 
is  aroused.  The  kindergarten  may  arouse  the  interest  in  and 


122  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

love  for  art,  science,  mathematics.  Every  child  who  is  truly 
educated  must,  in  order  to  understand  the  values  of  life,  find 
the  joy  of  expression  through  one  or  more  of  the  five  fine  arts, 
architecture,  sculpture,  art,  literature,  music.  The  kinder- 
garten child  is  given  ample  chance  to  experience  the  influence 
of  good  music;  he  is  given  good  literature  in  the  form  of  stories 
and  short  poems;  he  is  surrounded  by  objects  which  express 
beauty  and  is  continually  given  the  chance  to  express,  however 
crudely,  his  own  ideas  of  beauty;  he  is  allowed  free  use  of  sand 
and  clay  which  yield  so  readily  to  the  impressions  he  places 
thereon;  he  is  placed  in  an  environment  rich  with  material 
and  is  given  full  scope  for  free  initiative  and  invention,  for 
developing  and  expressing  his  own  individuality. 

The  kindergarten  work  includes  monthly  mothers'  meet- 
ings and  visits  to  the  homes  of  the  children.  A  social  worker 
of  repute  says  that  the  kindergartner,  as  no  other  worker,  has 
the  opportunity  to  influence  the  home.  At  the  mothers' 
meetings  she  has  occasion  to  present  the  kindergarten  aim 
and  ideals.  Many  problems  concerning  the  development  of 
the  children  are  freely  discussed  at  these  meetings;  the 
mother  and  kindergartner  begin  at  once  to  work  together  for 
the  highest  good  of  the  child,  and  through  this  daily  coopera- 
tion much  is  gained,  for  the  school  and  home  are  closely 
united  in  effort,  and  the  work  of  the  kindergarten  becomes  a 
benefit  to  the  community,  through  this  form  of  social  service. 

C.  P.  Claxton,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
says,  "The  kindergarten  is  a  vital  factor  in  American  educa- 
tion. It  ought  to  become  a  part  of  the  public  school  system 
in  every  city,  town,  and  village  in  the  country."  Mr.  Randall 
J.  Condon,  Superintendent  of  the  Cincinnati  Schools,  says: 
"I  believe  that  the  white  city  of  God,  with  its  river  of  life  and 
its  tree,  is  the  divine  type  of  the  kindergarten  with  its  life- 
giving  love,  sunshine,  and  companionship,  and  its  sym- 
metrical unfolding  of  all  the  beauties  of  child-life,  physical, 
mental,  moral,  spiritual.  I  believe,  that  the  work  of  the 
kindergarten  is  the  holiest  and  happiest  of  all  earth's  tasks." 


THE  KINDERGARTNER  123 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Students  who  have  successfully  completed  a  high-school 
course  are  admitted  to  the  kindergarten  training  school. 
Some  training  schools  admit  students  who  have  had  academic 
preparation  or  personal  advantages  equivalent  to  those  ob- 
tained in  a  good  high  school. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  kindergarten  training  schools: 

Miss  Niel's  Kindergarten  Training  School,  200  Common- 
wealth Avenue,  Boston,  Mass. 

Boston  Normal  School,  Boston,  Mass. 

Wheelock  Kindergarten  Training  School,  Boston,  Mass. 

Lesley  Normal    School   for    Kindergartners    and    Grade 
Teachers,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Froebel  League  Kindergarten  Training  School,  112  E.  71st 
Street,  New  York  City. 

The  Cincinnati  Kindergarten  Association  Training  School, 
6  Linton  Street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Cleveland  Kindergarten  Training  School,  2050  E.  96th 
Street,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

National   Kindergarten   and   Elementary   College,    2944 
Michigan  Boulevard,  Chicago,  111. 

Pittsburgh  Training  School,  Philips  Avenue,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

Teachers  College,  Post-Graduate  Work,  New  York  City. 

Most  training  schools  offer  a  two-year  course.  Some  schools 
add  a  post-graduate  course. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  opens  in  several  different 
directions.  The  kindergartner  may  take  a  position  in  the 
home  as  a  mother's  associate  and  helper.  She  may  make 
playground  work  her  special  study  and  advance  until  she  is 
ready  to  supervise  the  playgrounds  of  an  entire  city.  She 
usually  begins  her  work  as  assistant  to  an  experienced  kinder- 
gartner, and  as  she  grows,  she  may  become  director  of  a 
kindergarten.    She  may  through  experience  and  promotion 


124  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

find  her  place  as  one  of  the  faculty  in  a  kindergarten  training 
school.  She  may  become  supervisor  of  the  kindergartens  of 
an  entire  city. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  in  different  cities  varies  according  to 
the  estimate  placed  upon  the  value  of  educational  work.  The 
outlook  is  encouraging.  More  and  more  is  the  public  con- 
science being  awakened  to  the  need  of  just  recompense  for 
service  rendered  which  helps  to  shape  the  destinies  of  our 
children.  The  minimum  salary  in  Boston  at  present  is  $960, 
the  maximum,  $1608. 

Word  has  come  from  the  Bureau  of  Education,  Washington, 
D.C.,  that  "there  is  a  decided  tendency  all  over  the  country 
in  the  new  salary  schedule  to  place  kindergarten  teachers  on 
the  same  salary  basis  as  the  elementary  teachers." 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

In  order  to  become  a  good  kindergartner,  the  student  should 
possess  a  sincere  love  for  little  children,  tact,  and  patience. 
She  should  possess  an  innate  sense  of  refinement  and  an  ap- 
preciation of  the  true  values  of  life.  It  is  well  if  the  student 
possess  musical  ability;  she  should  undoubtedly  have  a  true 
sense  of  rhythm  and  an  appreciation  of  music.  She  should 
acquire  an  intelligent  understanding  of  child-nature.  The 
trained  kindergartner  must  know  her  child,  her  goal,  and  the 
various  means  and  material  which  are  to  be  a  help  toward  the 
aim  and  realization  of  all  true  education  —  the  harmonious 
development  of  the  child. 

Advantages 

The  advantages  of  this  work  are  felt  by  the  kindergartner 
who  realizes  that  she  is  laying  the  foundation  stone  of  char- 
acter and  learning.  The  child  comes  under  her  influence  at  a 
time  when  he  is  most  impressionable.  Time  must  be  taken 
outside  school  hours  for  calls,  mothers'  meetings,  and  the 


THE  KINDERGARTNER  125 

preparation  of  material,  but  the  kindergartner  is  in  school 
with  the  children  during  the  morning  hours  only.  As  much 
time  as  possible  is  spent  out  of  doors.  Some  schools  are  mak- 
ing practical  the  out-of-door  kindergarten.  In  most  training 
schools  a  thorough  primary  course  is  offered,  which  explains 
and  develops  the  modern  methods  of  primary  instruction.  It 
is  an  advantage  to  be  prepared  to  work  either  in  the  kinder- 
garten or  primary  grades. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Demand  and  supply 
The  Bureau  of  Education,  Washington,  D.C.,  reports  that 
"the  supply  of  kindergarten  teachers  does  not  equal  the  de- 
mand." In  Baltimore,  Maryland,  as  a  result  of  the  meeting 
of  the  International  Kindergarten  Union  last  May,  the  Board 
of  Education  decided  to  open  ten  new  kindergartens.  So  far, 
just  one  of  these  has  been  opened  because  of  the  shortage  of 
teachers.  The  demand  for  kindergartners  will  become  greater 
and  greater  as  the  people  of  various  communities  learn  to  ap- 
preciate the  true  value  and  importance  of  elementary  work. 
At  present  there  are  more  than  20,000  members  of  the  In- 
ternational Kindergarten  Union,  but  these  statistics  do  not 
represent  the  whole  body  of  kindergartners  throughout  the 
country. 

A  Kindergarten  Unit  was  sent  to  France  to  do  reconstruc- 
tion work  with  bereft  children  of  France  and  Belgium.  The 
work  will  continue  and  only  those  who  have  labored  in  this 
field  know  how  much  there  is  to  be  done  in  helping  these 
children  to  forget  the  tragedies  they  have  seen  and  suffered, 
in  helping  them  to  learn  again  to  smile,  and  to  live  happy, 
normal,  childlike  lives. 

Suggested  reading 

"Study  of  Child  Nature"  —  Elizabeth  Harrison. 
"Two  Children  of  the  Foothills"  —  Elizabeth  Harrison. 
"The  Use  of  the  Kindergarten  Gifts"  —  Grace  Fulmer. 
"Letters  to  a  Mother"  —  Susan  E.  Blow. 


126  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Symbolic  Education"  —  Susan  E.  Blow. 
"Play  in  Education"  —  Joseph  Lee. 
"  Schools  of  Tomorrow  "  —  John  Dewey. 
"Biography  of  a  Baby"  —  Millicent  W.  Shinn. 
"The  One  I  Knew  Best  of  All."  —  Frances  Hodgson  Bur- 
nett. 
"The  Golden  Age"  —  Kenneth  Graham. 
"Memoirs  of  a  Child"  —  Anne  Steger  Winston. 


THE  TEACHER  OF  THE  BLIND 

ELEANOR  E.  KELLEY 

Perkins  Institute  for  the  Blind 

Description  of  occupation 

Most  of  the  schools  for  the  blind  in  this  country  are  residen- 
tial schools,  in  which  the  duties  of  the  teachers  are  twofold: 
teaching  in  the  schoolroom,  and  performing  the  social  duties 
in  the  cottages. 

The  course  of  study  includes  work  begim  in  the  kinder- 
garten, through  eight  or  nine  grades,  and  four  years  of  high 
school.  Although  the  high-school  course  is  not  identical,  it  is 
made  as  nearly  equivalent  as  possible  to  that  in  the  average 
school  for  the  seeing,  while  more  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the 
study  of  music  and  manual  training.  The  school  year  corre- 
sponds with  that  of  the  public  schools,  including  vacations 
during  the  summer,  at  Christmas  time,  etc.,  when  the  pupils 
return  to  their  homes. 

The  school  comprises  literary,  music,  manual  training,  and 
physical  training  departments;  and,  generally,  piano  tuning 
and  domestic  science  departments  for  the  boys  and  girls,  re- 
spectively. The  school  day  usually  continues  from  8  or  8.30 
A.M.  until  4.30  or  5  p.m.,  with  short  recess  periods  and  an 
interval  of  varying  length  for  dinner.  There  are  also  several 
evening  periods  of  supervised  study  during  the  week.  The 
literary  work  and  music  are  taught  by  means  of  a  system  of 


THE  TEACHER  OF  THE  BLIND  127 

raised  dots  or  letters  —  a  system  not  diflBcult  for  the  teacher 
to  learn. 

Outside  of  the  schoolroom,  the  teacher  is  expected  occa- 
sionally to  act  as  guide  for  pupils  attending  concerts,  theaters, 
or  meeting  trains  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  vacations.  In 
schools  built  on  the  cottage  plan,  the  teachers  eat  with  the 
pupils  and  have  more  or  less  responsibility  for  their  instruc- 
tion in  table  manners,  etc. 

Training  necessary 

At  present  there  is  no  school  giving  special  training  for  teach- 
ers of  the  blind.  For  the  elementary  grades,  normal-school 
graduates  are  selected;  for  the  high  school,  normal-school  or 
college  graduates.  Those  wishing  to  teach  special  subjects, 
such  as  music,  manual  training,  etc.,  can  secure  the  necessary 
training  in  any  school  which  prepares  one  to  teach  these  sub- 
jects. Visits  to  several  schools  for  the  blind  are  invaluable  to 
one  considering  this  field  of  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

As  this  work  is  highly  specialized,  there  is  but  little  oppor- 
tunity for  advancement,  except  from  the  position  of  assistant 
teacher  in  a  department,  to  the  position  of  head  of  the  de- 
partment. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  of  teachers  in  schools  for  the  blind  vary  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  available  funds,  the  amoimt  of  work  re- 
quired, and  the  standard  of  the  school.  Salaries  range,  in 
general,  from  $400  to  $1000  a  year,  and  home. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  most  important  qualification  for  this  work  is  the  spirit 
of  helpfulness,  combined  with  a  real  interest  in  the  pupils  and 
in  the  aims  of  the  school.  As  in  all  teaching,  adaptability, 
initiative,  patience,  and  a  sense  of  humor  are  important.   A 


128  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

knowledge  of  Braille,  the  system  of  raised  dots  used  in  the 
school,  can  be  acquired  after  entering  the  school. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Some  of  the  advantages  of  such  a  position  are : 

The  regular  life  of  an  institution. 

Contact  with  young  people,  and  with  the  other  teachers. 

Concerts  and  lectures,  both  inside  and  outside  the  school. 

Opportunity  to  study  the  problems  of  individual  pupils, 
and  assist  in  their  solution. 

Opportunity  for  service. 

Some  of  the  disadvantages  are: 
Demands  on  the  time  of  the  teacher  for  extra  reading  or 

other  assistance. 
Monotony  of  institution  life. 

Supply  and  demand 

In  the  forty-six  residential  schools  for  the  blind  in  this  coimtry, 
there  are  enrolled  between  four  and  five  thousand  pupils. 
There  are,  perhaps,  from  five  to  seven  hundred  teachers  em- 
ployed. (As  this  number  varies  constantly,  it  is  impossible  to 
give  more  definite  figiu-es.)  The  demand  and  supply  are 
fairly  well  balanced. 

Service  to  society 

A  DISTINCT  service  to  society  is  rendered  by  fitting  these 
handicapped  persons  to  take  their  places  in  the  community 
as  helpful,  sometimes  self-supporting,  or,  at  least,  accept- 
able members  of  society;  also  by  helping  to  correct  false  ideas 
of  people  as  to  blindness  and  the  blind. 

Suggested  reading 

"The   Outlook   for   the  Blind"  (published   at    Columbus, 

Ohio). 
Reports  of  schools  and  commissions  for  the  blind. 


THE  VOCATIONAL-SCHOOL  TEACHER       129 

James's  "Psychology,"  vol.  2  (pages  203  to  211). 
"Becoming  Blind"  —  Emile  Javal. 
"The  World  I  Live  In"  —  Helen  Keller. 
"  The  Blind  "  —  Harry  Best. 


THE  VOCATIONAL-SCHOOL  TEACHER 
CORA  J.  ZINKGRAF 

Description  of  occupation 

It  is  well  for  the  woman  who  contemplates  entering  the  con- 
tinuation school  field  to  have  a  clear  and  definite  idea  of  the 
purpose  of  the  school  itself.  Knowing  its  aims  and  objects, 
she  will  be  in  a  position  to  judge  whether  or  not  she  should 
undertake  a  work  that  must  be  done  to  attain  the  objects 
that  are  sought. 

Broadly  speaking,  all  public  schools  of  every  type  and  de- 
scription were  created  and  are  maintained  to  prepare  the 
young  people  intelligently  and  efficiently  to  exercise  the 
rights  and  meet  the  responsibilities  of  citizenship  in  so  com- 
plicated and  specialized  a  democracy  as  ours.  The  public 
schools  of  all  grades  must  prepare  for  citizenship.  Each  must 
make  its  contribution  in  its  own  field.  The  continuation 
school,  or,  as  it  is  now  more  commonly  and  appropriately 
called,  the  vocational  school,  has  its  own  special  programme 
in  this  great  work  of  training  for  American  citizenship. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  pupils  of  these  voca- 
tional schools  are  chiefly  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
eighteen.  They  are  passing  through  the  most  critical  period 
of  their  lives,  critical  in  that  they  are  years  when  the  mind 
is  especially  open  and  responsive  to  new  impressions,  and 
doubly  critical  because  these  open  and  responsive  minds,  re- 
lieved after  many  years  from  the  rigid  discipline  of  the  school, 
are,  for  the  first  time,  brought  in  contact  with  multitudi- 
nous influences,  new  relations,  standards,  and  ideals.  It  is 
a  condition  that  gives  the  continuation-school  teacher  an 


130  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

unusual  opportunity,  and  equally  an  unescapable  duty.  The 
word  "citizenship,"  as  generally  used,  is  a  vague  and  iur 
tangible  expression.  Its  significance  should  be  analyzed.  In 
such  an  analysis  three  attributes  stand  out  as  by  all  means 
the  most  important.  A  good  citizen,  who  will  add  to  the 
strength  of  the  commonwealth  rather  than  be  a  burden  to  it, 
should  be: 

First  of  all,  a  person  of  character.  The  continuation-school 
teacher,  coming  in  contact  with  thousands  of  boys  and  girls 
in  industry,  is  in  a  position  to  establish  standards  that  ought 
to  make  for  better  relations  between  employer  and  employee, 
between  individuals  and  their  government,  and  between  in- 
dividuals and  other  individuals.  The  continuation-school 
teacher  should  be  a  person  possessed  of  a  missionary  spirit,  a 
woman  with  strong  ideals. 

Second  in  point  of  importance  is  health.  A  person  not  in 
good  health,  or  incapacitated  through  accident,  cannot  give 
his  children  the  start  in  life  that  all  American  children  are 
entitled  to.  This  person  is  not  the  ideal  citizen  contributing 
his  part  for  general  betterment.  His  incapacity  is  thrusting  a 
burden  upon  society  for  others  to  carry.  Health  instruction 
of  a  practical  type  is  training  for  better  citizenship.  The  con- 
tinuation school,  by  reason  of  its  dealing  with  young  people 
to  whom  safety,  industrial  hygiene,  and  the  like  mean  some- 
thing, is  in  a  peculiarly  favorable  position  to  give  instruction 
that  will  tend  to  make  for  better  health  conditions.  While 
it  must  not  be  supposed  that  training  for  character  and 
health  are  peculiarly  continuation-school  problems,  none  the 
less  they  must  be  given  prominence  in  these  schools  as  they 
should  in  all  others,  and  because  of  the  relations  and  the  con- 
ditions affecting  character  and  health,  due  to  contact  with 
industry,  it  is  desirable  that  the  teachers  themselves  should 
have  had  this  contact  with  industry  to  enable  them  to  give 
first-hand  instruction  that  will  fit  these  problems  as  they 
arise  in  the  minds  of  these  particular  people. 

Character  comes  first  and  health  second  in  the  making  of 


THE  VOCATIONAL-SCHOOL  TEACHER       131 

good  citizens:  good  in  the  sense  that  such  so  classified  are 
a  support  to  the  State  and  not  a  burden  to  it. 

Third  to  be  named,  and  third  in  the  order  of  importance 
in  the  making  of  a  good  citizen,  is  adequate  earning  power. 
The  good  citizen  must  have  adequate  earning  power.  A 
man  with  adequate  earning  power  is  a  good  producer  and  a 
good  consumer.  His  children  are  given  the  start  in  life  that 
will  make  them  better  producers  and  consumers.  Living  con- 
ditions, due  to  this  earning  power,  will  be  such  as  will  make 
for  better  health.  Character  itself  is  often  in  a  large  degree 
determined  by  that  individual's  earning  power.  Adequate 
earning  power  will  tend  to  relieve  that  economic  pressure  so 
often  at  the  bottom  of  all  unrest.  Earning  power  is  a  potent 
influence  in  society. 

Recognizing  that  the  boys  and  girls  attending  the  voca- 
tional schools  are  face  to  face  with  making  a  living,  and  rec- 
ognizing further  that  more  geography,  more  grammar,  more 
arithmetic,  more  history,  and  more  physiology  of  the  kind 
these  young  people  had  had  in  the  grades,  given  at  the  ex- 
pense of  vocational  training,  and  given  at  the  one  time  when 
vocational  training  and  guidance  can  be  given,  and  recog- 
nizing, moreover,  the  lifelong  struggle  that  these  people  will 
have  to  face  unless  early  in  life,  before  twenty,  they  enter 
upon  a  definite  period  of  preparation,  what  justification  can 
there  be  in  continuing  the  general  cultural  training  of  the 
grades,  thereby  barring  the  other? 

Occupational  training  at  this  time  will  count  for  so  much 
more  in  the  making  of  a  good  citizen  than  will  the  purely 
unrelated,  academic  kind,  that  the  former  should  by  all 
means  be  given  the  right  of  way. 

Preparation  necessary 

What  preparation,  then,  should  the  teacher  make  who  con- 
templates entering  the  continuation-school  work?  Clearly 
the  preparation  desired  is  first  of  all  the  technical  prepara- 
tion necessary  to  teach  the  specific  vocational  work  that  the 


132  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

pupils  propose  to  engage  in.  Chief  among  these  is  home- 
maldng.  Others  are  commercial  work,  such  as  stenography 
and  bookkeeping,  millinery,  household  art,  dressmaking,  and 
other  lines  of  skilled  work  in  which  women  are  engaged. 
Wherever  this  technical  knowledge  can  be  acquired  in  spe- 
cially prepared  schools,  such  as  Stout  Institute,  Bradley  In- 
stitute, Pratt  Institute,  the  normal  schools  and  universities, 
prospective  teachers  should  avail  themselves  of  the  opportu- 
nities there  afforded.  It  is  well,  however,  for  these  prospective 
teachers  to  take  work,  in  addition,  in  economics,  sociology, 
and  history  to  give  them  a  better  background  for  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  the  economic  and  social  problems  incident 
to  American  industrial  life.  And  it  is  well,  too,  that  these 
prospective  teachers,  during  the  vacation  months,  or  sub- 
sequent to  graduation,  shall  have  had  first-hand  contact  with 
industry  obtained  through  actual  employment. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  for  vocational-school 
teachers  at  this  time,  perhaps,  are  a  little  better  than  they  are 
in  the  teaching  field  in  general.  During  the  pioneer  stage  in 
every  field  there  is  always  a  better  opportunity  for  securing 
positions  of  an  executive  nature  than  when  development  has 
gone  much  farther. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  paid  to  vocational-school  teachers  naturally 
vary  in  different  communities.  The  schedule,  however,  is 
more  likely  to  coincide  with  that  of  high-school  teachers  than 
that  of  the  teachers  in  the  grades,  with  possible  adjustments 
to  compensate  for  the  longer  hours. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Work  of  the  vocational  type  has  both  its  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages. The  advantages  are  unusual,  for  a  teacher  comes 
in  contact  with  human  nature  which  gives  her  an  insight  into 
the  world  as  it  really  is.  It  takes  her  out  of  the  academic  at- 


THE  VOCATIONAL-SCHOOL  TEACHER       133 

mosphere  into  life.  There  is  a  compensation  greater  than  the 
financial  return.  A  person  engaged  in  this  work  has  a  feeling 
of  satisfaction,  for  she  realizes  that  what  she  is  doing  is  of 
great  benefit  to  humanity.  The  hearty  response  on  the  part 
of  the  pupils  in  expression  of  their  appreciation  is  a  constant 
inspiration  in  her  work.  There  is  no  question  that  this  kind 
of  a  teaching  position  develops  personality. 

Disadvantages  enter  into  vocational  work  the  same  as 
they  do  into  any  work.  A  teacher  must  have  a  strong  phy- 
sique because  her  labor  is  strenuous.  The  length  of  hours 
seems  to  be  more  than  the  person  of  average  strength  can 
endure,  though  that  doubtless  will  be  adjusted.  Night  work 
may  be  required  of  any  teacher,  although  this  usually  carries 
with  it  additional  pay.  In  most  places  the  work  is  in  its 
pioneer  stage,  which  often  means  laboring  in  close,  unpleasant 
quarters.  The  pupils*  time  is  very  valuable,  consequently 
every  moment  in  class  must  be  utilized,  thus  keeping  the 
teacher  under  a  constant  strain  during  the  class  period.  In 
many  schools  there  are  no  preparation  periods  during  the  day. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  vocational  work  is  being  organized  throughout  the 
country  in  the  following  States:  Pennsylvania,  Arizona,  Cal- 
ifornia, Indiana,  Illinois,  Idaho,  Massachusetts,  Minnesota, 
Michigan,  Montana,  Missouri,  Nevada,  Nebraska,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  New  Mexico,  Ohio,  Arkansas,  Oregon, 
Washington,  and  Wisconsin. 

The  immediate  demand  for  teachers  will  be  much  greater 
than  the  supply.  Teachers*  Training  Conferences  are  being 
established  in  order  that  the  demand  may  be  met  more 
readily. 

Reading 

The  following  books  are  suggested: 

"The  Problem  of  the  Continuation  School"  — R.  H.  Best 
and  C.  K.  Ogden. 


134  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Some    Continuation    Schools    of    Europe"  —  Edwin    G. 

Cooley. 
"Vocational  Education  for  Girls  and  Women"  —  Albert  H. 

Leake. 
"Human  Factor  in  Education"  —  James  Phinney  Munroe. 

THE  DEAN  OF  WOMEN 

ELEANOR  L.  LORD 
Dean  of  Oaucher  College 

Description  of  occupation 

Accx)RDiNG  to  ciurent  usage,  a  dean  of  women  is  an  adminis- 
trative officer  of  a  college,  university,  normal  school,  or  high 
school,  whose  chief  functions  are:  (1)  supervision  of  the  con- 
duct and  social  interests  of  women  students;  (2)  the  advising 
of  women  students  upon  a  wide  range  of  problems. 

In  coeducational  institutions  the  dean  of  women  rarely  has 
direct  supervision  of  the  academic  status  of  students,  although 
occasionally  this  is  the  case.  In  the  separate  colleges  for 
women  and  in  the  "coordinate"  colleges,  however,  the  dean 
usually  advises  students  in  the  selection  of  their  studies  and 
confers  with  delinquents,  or,  in  the  larger  colleges,  is  chair- 
man of  a  board  of  advisors  or  assistant  deans. 

The  work  of  the  dean*s  office  is  not  at  present  definitely 
standardized  and  her  duties  are  infinitely  varied,  as  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  possible  requirements  will  indicate: 

Supervision  of  housing  of  women  students,  including  in 
some  instances  management  of  dormitories  and  appoint- 
ment of  staff;  supervision  of  cooperative  houses  run  by  the 
college,  and  of  off-campus  houses  and  sorority  houses  with 
respect  to  the  maintenance  of  proper  living  conditions. 

Supervision  of  the  social  conduct  of  women  students, 
usually  in  cooperation  with  officers  of  the  student  govern- 
ment organization,  if  such  exists. 

Keeping  the  social  calendar;  and  the  granting  of  certain 
permissions  in  connection  with  students'  activities. 


THE  DEAN  OF  WOMEN  135 

General  supervision  of  chaperonage  and  discretionary 
authority  in  matters  of  social  deportment. 

Service  as  patroness  at  social  functions,  involving  attend- 
ance at  many  student  entertainments  and  dances  as  well  as 
at  all  formal  functions  of  the  college,  university,  or  school. 

Chairmanship  or  membership  on  committees  involving 
the  interests  of  the  women  students. 

Frequently,  when  there  is  no  special  employment  secretary, 
the  management  of  the  Appointments  Bureau,  involving 
vocational  guidance,  and  occasionally  the  administration  of 
student  aid  funds. 

Where  there  is  no  resident  physician,  the  dean  is  expected 
to  give  lectures  on  personal  and  community  hygiene;  to  see 
that  the  food  and  sanitary  arrangements  in  the  dormitories 
are  satisfactory;  to  see  that  quarantine  regulations  are  carried 
out,  that  cases  of  illness  are  promptly  put  in  charge  of 
competent  physicians,  make  arrangements  for  admissions  to 
local  hospitals,  communicate  with  parents  in  cases  of  illness, 
and  answer  telegrams  and  telephone  messages  demanding 
authentic  reports  of  illness  or  of  academic  standing. 

Dictation  of  innumerable  letters. 

Teaching.  It  is  considered  desirable  that  the  dean  should 
have  academic  rank  as  a  member  of  the  faculty.  She  therefore 
teaches  a  course  or  two,  as  a  rule,  or  at  least  gives  a  series  of 
appropriate  lectures  to  the  women  students  as  a  whole  or  to 
the  freshmen. 

She  is  usually  a  member  of  several  advisory  boards  or 
joint  committees  of  students'  organizations  —  for  example, 
the  Y.W.C.A.;  and  may  even  be  called  upon  to  give  advice 
to  individual  students  upon  matters  of  religion,  finance,  and 
the  like. 

In  the  separate  colleges  for  women  the  dean  may  be  called 
upon  to  represent  the  president  in  his  absence  by  receiving 
guests,  conducting  chapel  exercises,  introducing  lecturers,  and 
making  public  addresses. 

Community  relations.  A  dean  is  frequently  called  upon  for 


136  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

public  speaking  on  a  variety  of  topics;  for  service  on  educa- 
tional or  civic  committees,  and  for  more  or  less  journalistic 
writing,  if  only  for  student  publications. 

Training  necessary 

Graduation  from  a  standard  college  is  now  usually  required 
and  the  doctor's  or  at  least  the  master's  degree  gives  the  dean 
a  better  standing  with  students  and  faculty. 

The  only  institution  offering  direct  training  for  the  posi- 
tion of  dean  or  advisor  of  young  women  at  present  is  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University.  This  course  covers  one  year's 
programme  of  study,  i.e.,  thirty-two  tuition  points.  A  special 
descriptive  bulletin  of  this  course  is  published  by  Teachers 
College.^  Upon  satisfactory  completion  of  the  course  a  di- 
ploma is  granted,  and  for  those  who  hold  an  approved  A.B. 
degree  the  course  may  lead  to  the  master's  degree. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Deans  who  have  made  good  in  small  institutions  may  be 
called  to  larger  schools  where  the  responsibility  gives  greater 
scope  for  ambition,  greater  opportunities  for  constructive 
work  and  a  higher  salary.  In  one  or  two  exceptional  colleges, 
generally  those  afl&liated  with  a  college  for  men,  the  dean  is 
virtually  president  with  nearly  independent  jurisdiction. 

Financial  return 

The  range  is  from  $1500  to  $4500.  In  some  institutions  the 

dean  is  also  a  full  professor  and  is  paid  a  corresponding  salary. 

Qualifications 

Sound  social  judgment  and  knowledge  of  social  require- 
ments. 

Strong  character  and  high  ideals. 

Tact. 

1  Special  Bulletin  No.  8,  October  11,  1919.  A  course  similar  to  that  at 
Teachers  College  is  probably  to  be  given  in  1920-21  at  the  University  of 
California. 


THE  DEAN  OF  WOMEN  137 

Sympathetic  insight  into  the  natures  and  problems  of 
young  people. 

Initiative  and  resourcefulness  in  meeting  all  situations. 

A  winning  personality  and  youthful  spirit. 

Dignity  combined  with  a  sense  of  humor. 

Self-control. 

Fair-mindedness. 

Ability  to  get  on  with  people  and  to  secure  cooperation. 

Ability  to  teach  or  lecture  upon  some  subject,  preferably 
sociology,  home  economics,  history,  political  science,  biology, 
English. 

Advantages 

Contact  with  students  in  a  wider  range  of  relationships  than 
is  usually  possible  through  the  classroom  alone.  The  dean 
may  combine  the  role  of  mother  and  big  sister  if  she  has  the 
right  qualities  and  instincts. 

Scope  for  administrative  ambition  and  ability. 

Initiative  in  various  directions  and  sometimes  opportunity 
for  important  constructive  planning  and  organization;  for  ex- 
ample, in  securing,  planning,  and  furnishing  dormitories. 

Coordination  of  faculty  and  student  interests  and  relation- 
ships offers  an  opportunity  for  valuable  service. 

Opportunity  for  genuine  social  and  educational  service  to 
the  younger  generation  through  the  building-up  of  social 
standards  and  the  training  of  young  women  for  social  and 
civic  leadership. 

Disadvantages 

Longer  hours  on  duty  and  shorter  vacations  than  in  teach- 
ing positions. 

Heavier,  more  taxing,  and  more  continuous  responsibility. 

Greater  openness  to  criticism  from  superior  oflScers,  faculty, 
students,  alumnse,  parents,  and  outside  persons. 

More  or  less  nervous  strain  when  emergencies  arise  or  when 
the  adjustment  of  personal  or  official  relationships  becomes 
difficult. 


188  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Extent  of  occupation 

Nearly  all  standard  colleges  for  women,  coeducational  col- 
leges and  universities  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  now 
employ  advisors  or  deans  of  women. 

Normal  schools  are  rapidly  introducing  the  office  of  dean. 

Large  high  schools  for  girls  and  mixed  high  schools  are  be- 
ginning to  appoint  special  advisors. 

The  openings  are  at  present  greater  in  the  East  and  West 
than  in  the  South.  The  demand  for  recent  college  graduates 
with  some  specific  training  and  a  wide  educational  outlook 
is  growing  and  there  is  less  tendency  to  appoint  teachers  al- 
ready on  the  staff  who  seem  temperamentally  adapted  to  the 
work,  or  to  change  the  title  of  the  preceptress  or  lady  prin- 
cipal to  that  of  dean  with  little  change  in  function. 

Readings 

"The  Dean  of  Women"  —  Lois  Kimball  Mathews.  Hough- 
ton Mifflin  Company. 

"The  Adviser  of  Girls  in  a  High  School"  —  Romiett  Stevens. 
"  Teachers  College  Record,"  September,  1919. 

"The  Position  of  Dean  of  Women"  —  Gertrude  S.  Martin. 

"School,  College,  and  Character"  —  L.  B.  R.  Briggs. 

"Life  of  Alice  Freeman  Palmer"  —  George  H.  Palmer. 

"  Girls  and  Education  "  —  L.  B.  R.  Briggs. 

"Talks  to  Freshman  Girls"  —  Helen  Dawes  Brown. 

"  Girlhood  and  Character  "  —  Mary  E.  Moxcey. 

THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  PRmCH^AL 

ETHEL  P.  ANDRES 

Principdy  Lincoln  High  School,  Los  Angeles 

Description  of  occupation 

The  high-school  principal  of  to-day,  in  addition  to  the  tradi- 
tionally accepted  function  of  high-school  administration  and 
supervision  of  instruction,  is  at  work  on  the  problem  of  mak- 


THE  HIGH-SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL  139 

ing  the  high  school  of  which  she  has  charge  a  socializing  in- 
stitution. She  is  recognizing,  as  the  aim  of  the  curriculum, 
the  training  for  citizenship,  and  is  experimenting  and  ex- 
ploring the  field  of  vitalizing  socialized  courses  of  study.  She 
is  realizing  that  the  high  school  is  a  business  enterprise  fitting 
boys  and  girls  for  vocations  and  is  eager  for  a  closer  affilia- 
tion with  the  industrial  and  commercial  life  of  the  community. 
She  is  interested  in  the  forces  producing  the  present  reor- 
ganization in  society  and  is  cooperating  with  social  agencies 
of  the  town  so  that  the  students  may  become  actual  partici- 
pants in  the  life  of  the  community. 

The  actual  work  done  by  the  high-school  principal  is  the 
determining  of  the  organization  of  the  high  school,  the  prob- 
lem of  the  course  of  study,  the  assignment  of  duties  to  teach- 
ers, the  establishing  of  working  relations  between  grammar 
school  and  the  high  school  and  the  high  school  and  the  col- 
lege, the  question  of  discipline,  adapting  the  school  to  com- 
munity needs,  and  the  democraticizing  and  humanizing  of 
the  school  through  its  social  organizations. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  and  training  necessary  is  college  graduation 

and  post-graduate  study  in  administration,  in  classification 

of  aims  and  processes  of  education,  and  in  the  scientific 

measurement  of  results  leading  toward  reorganization  of 

subject-matter. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Opportunity  for  advancement  to  the  post  of  principal  is 
excellent.  The  woman  who  is  willing  to  accept  responsibility, 
who  has  sympathy  with  and  interest  in  young  people,  who 
is  resourceful  and  adaptable,  who  has  a  sense  of  social  and 
civic  responsibility,  who  can  inspire  trust  and  followership, 
can  hope  for  speedy  recognition  and  reward. 


140  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  of  principals  of  high  schools  vary  from  $1800  to 
$7000.  The  average  salary  of  a  principal  of  a  school  with  the 
enrollment  under  one  hundred  pupils  is  $1800  to  $2400;  of  a 
school  from  one  hundred  to  six  hundred  pupils,  $2500  to 
$3500;  of  schools  of  six  hundred  up,  $3500  to  $7000.  Salaries 
at  the  present  time  are  variable.  Salary  schedules  are  being 
advanced  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  to  insure  the 
same  purchasing  value  as  in  1914. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  essential  qualifications  for  success  are  love  of  the  work, 
enthusiasm,  character  that  commands  respect,  a  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  the  ability  to  deal  with  and  influence  boys 
and  girls,  common  sense,  force,  a  sense  of  humor,  courtesy 
indomitable  will,  and  a  civic  conscience. 

The  principal  must  study  community  problems  as  carefully 
as  those  of  administration.  She  must  give  thought  and  energy 
to  the  development  of  a  community  spirit  in  the  student  body 
and  teaching  corps.  She  must  have  knowledge  of,  and  tol- 
erance with,  the  temptations  of  adolescence,  and  a  real  in- 
terest in  the  avocations  that  may  successfully  offset  them. 
In  addition  she  must  have  some  knowledge  of  the  require- 
ments of  success  in  various  occupations,  and  the  ability  to 
recognize  in  her  students  their  dominant  powers  and  interests 
so  that  she  may  intelligently  help  to  guide  them  into  the  vo- 
cations for  which  they  should  be  prepared. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  a  high-school  principalship  are  many: 
first,  the  broadening  influence  of  contact  with  civic  life,  com- 
munity interests,  and  civic  enterprise;  second,  the  realization 
that  to  the  high-school  principal  is  given  the  glorious  oppor- 
timity  of  largely  determining  the  lives  by  determining  the 
ideals  and  training  of  her  boys  and  girls. 

I  know  of  no  disadvantages  of  a  high-school  principalship. 


THE  PRIVATE-SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL  141 

THE  PRIVATE-SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL 

ELIZABETH  FORREST  JOHNSON 

Head  of  the  Baldioin  School,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pennsylvania 

Description  of  occupation 

There  are  two  sorts  of  private  schools;  the  private  school 
which  is  owned  by  the  principal,  and  the  private  school  which 
is  organized  somewhat  as  a  college  is  organized,  owned  by 
its  own  corporation  and  managed  by  the  principal,  usually 
assisted  by  a  board  of  directors.  In  both  cases  the  principal 
is  the  main  executive  oflScer  of  the  school.  In  the  former  she 
herself  reaps  all  of  the  financial  prosperity  of  the  school;  in 
the  latter  she  usually  receives  a  fixed  salary,  and  any  margin 
over  and  above  the  necessary  exf>enses  of  the  school  is  used 
for  improvements  in  the  school.  In  the  former  case  any  finan- 
cial embarrassment  is  borne  by  the  principal,  the  school 
usually  going  out  of  existence  if  its  income  does  not  meet  its 
needs.  In  the  latter  case  the  directors  or  other  friends  of  the 
school  may  raise  a  sum  to  help  the  school  out  of  financial 
difficulties. 

The  work  of  the  school  principal  in  either  sort  of  organiza- 
tion includes  the  following  aspects.  The  principal  has  great 
financial  responsibilities.  She  decides  what  expenditures 
shall  be  made;  she  is  the  business  head  of  the  organization. 
There  are  some  schools  in  which  the  principal  has  no  such 
responsibilities  at  all,  even  the  details  of  the  business  manage- 
ment being  carried  by  the  directors;  but  customarily  the 
principal  makes  at  least  the  first  decisions,  even  if  later  they 
must  be  ratified  by  the  board.  This  is  in  itself  a  very  large 
responsibility,  as  the  annual  turnover  in  our  large  private 
schools  is  likely  to  be  several  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  the  professional  aspect.  The 
principal  appoints  teachers  and  when  necessary  dismisses 
them.  Sometimes  this  action  must  be  ratified  by  the  board 
of  directors,  but  usually  if  such  ratification  is  the  custom,  it 


142  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

is  merely  a  form.  The  principal  should,  in  conference  with 
the  faculty,  plan  the  curriculum  of  the  school,  being  ready  to 
introduce  changes  when  changes  are  needed  and  to  uphold 
established  curricula  against  too  frequent  changes.  She  cus- 
tomarily is  the  one  to  decide  upon  the  admission  of  new 
students,  examining  their  credentials  and  their  past  records. 
She  also  plans  the  work  of  the  individual  students,  conferring 
with  them  individually  at  very  frequent  intervals  concerning 
their  progress,  their  difficulties,  and  the  like.  In  some  schools 
the  principal  delegates  this  particular  piece  of  work  entirely 
to  some  assistant  and  in  most  large  schools  she  must  delegate 
some  of  it,  but  it  is  very  important  that  she  should  keep  in 
her  own  hands  the  general  oversight  of  all  of  it  and  to  carry 
the  detailed  supervision  of  as  much  as  possible,  otherwise  her 
personal  contact  with  the  intellectual  development  of  the 
students  is  hampered.  She  should  know  at  any  given  instant 
what  sort  of  work  each  student  in  the  school  is  doing  and  what 
sort  of  work  the  teachers  think  her  capable  of  doing.  Fre- 
quent conferences  with  the  teachers,  individually,  by  de- 
partments, and  as  a  faculty  are  necessary  to  attain  this.  The 
principal  should  also  visit  classes  in  her  own  school  and  in 
other  schools  whenever  possible. 

In  the  third  place,  there  is  what  may  be  called  the  personal 
aspect.  The  school  principal  should  so  order  the  routine  of 
her  work  as  to  have  leisure  to  be  easily  accessible  to  students, 
teachers,  and  parents,  and  to  have  leisure  of  mind  to  consider 
the  individual  problems  about  which  they  may  care  to  con- 
sult her. 

The  two  dangers  to  be  avoided  in  the  day's  work  are  on 
the  one  hand  the  carrying  of  so  many  details  as  to  be  over- 
pressed  by  them  and  unable  to  meet,  freshly,  big  situations 
when  they  arise,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  delegating  of  so 
many  details  to  others  that  the  principal  herself  has  only 
vague  and  general  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on  in  the 
school. 


THE  PRIVATE-SCHOOL  PRINCIPAL  143 

Training  necessary 

The  preparation  or  training  for  the  work  is  through  actual 
teaching,  best  of  all  through  teaching  in  the  actual  school  of 
which  one  later  becomes  principal.  In  addition  to  actual 
school  teaching,  a  school  principal  must  have  had  sufficient 
business  training  to  meet  the  business  responsibilities. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  are  not  many.  Usually 
a  school  principal  remains  school  principal  for  the  rest  of  her 
working  life.  Occasionally  one  hears  of  a  school  principal 
being  appointed  dean  of  a  college.  I  do  not  recollect  hearing 
of  one*s  going  into  any  other  line  of  work. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  is  good.  If  the  principal  owns  her  own 
school,  she  may  earn  considerable  sums  of  money.  In  the  past 
what  might  properly  be  called  fairly  large  fortunes  have  been 
made.  The  later  development  of  the  best  private  schools 
seems  at  present,  however,  in  the  direction  of  the  second  type 
of  the  private  school;  that  in  which  the  school  principal  her- 
self receives  a  salary  and  any  profit  made  in  the  management 
of  the  school  belongs  to  the  school,  not  to  the  principal.  In 
such  a  school  the  principal's  salary  is  at  least  two  or  three 
times  that  of  the  highest  paid  teacher  in  the  school.  This  is 
probably  not  excessive,  as  the  responsibility  is  very  much 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  member  of  the  staff.  I  should, 
however,  consider  that  a  school  whose  principal  received  more 
than  three  times  as  much  as  the  highest  paid  teacher  in  the 
school  was  either  receiving  too  much,  or  the  teachers  were 
receiving  too  little. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

As  for  qualifications,  a  school  principal  should  have  a  spe- 
cialist's knowledge  of  the  science  of  education  and  a  specialist's 
knowledge  in  at  least  one  specific  field  in  which  she  has  actually 


144  C.\REERS  FOR  WOMEN 

taught:  mathematics,  English,  languages,  history,  or  science. 
She  must,  of  course,  have  real  executive  ability  and  sound 
business  judgment.  She  should  have  \'igorous  health,  a 
serene  temperament,  a  mind  with  color  enough  to  be  inter- 
esting to  the  young  people  of  the  school.  She  should  make 
human  contacts  easily  and  should  be  a  genuinely  friendly 
person;  friendly  to  the  teachers,  the  students,  and  to  the 
employees. 

Advantages  and  dhadrantages 

The  advantages  of  the  profession  are  obvious.  There  is  the 
interest  that  comes  from  being  an  executive  officer  of  **a 
going  concern,"  and  most  especially  of  an  organization  which 
is  concerned  primarily  with  human  contacts.  There  are  all 
the  professional  advantages  that  there  are  in  the  teaching 
profession  with  the  disadvantage  of  inadequate  pay  removed. 
These  advantages  of  the  teaching  profession  are  so  well  known 
as  hardly  to  need  enumeration :  the  joy  of  intellectual  contact 
with  young  minds,  the  opportunity  for  some  time  for  study, 
the  chance  of  leading  a  life  in  which  things  of  the  intellect 
assume  the  most  important  part  of  life. 

The  disadvantages  are  perhaps  equally  ob\'ious :  the  respon- 
sibility is  very  grave  and  many-sided.  The  work  is  likely  to 
be  continuous.  Vacations  are  much  shorter  than  the  vaca- 
tions of  teachers  and  far  more  likely  to  be  interrupted.  Indeed, 
the  school  principal's  life  is  necessarily  a  succession  of  inter- 
ruptions. The  comi>elling  interest  of  the  work  lies  in  the  con- 
viction that  one  is  helping  through  one's  lifetime  in  the  main- 
tenance and  improvement  of  a  school  which,  if  it  is  fine  enough 
and  sound  enough,  may  become  a  permanent  institution  of 
the  country.  The  old  established  private  schools  for  boys  and 
girls  that  have  maintained  this  high  tradition  over  many 
years,  under  various  principals,  occupy  in  the  community  a 
place  second  only  to  the  colleges,  and  any  young  struggling 
school  can  hold  before  itself  always  the  hope  of  developing 
into  such  an  established  part  of  the  community. 


THE  REGISTRAR  145 

THE  REGISTRAR 

SARAH  BELLE  YOUNG 

Wkeaton  College,  Norton,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

The  functions  of  the  registrar  are  generally  understood  to 
be  those  of  keeping  a  written  record  of  certain  internal  pro- 
ceedings of  an  institution,  but  in  reality  her  duties  range  all 
the  way  from  that  of  an  excuse  oflBcer  to  that  of  filling  out 
an  exhaustive  questionnaire  which  may  cover  various  de- 
partments of  the  college. 

Among  the  more  common  duties  of  the  registration  office 
are  those  of  keeping  records  which  must  be  accurate,  avail- 
able, complete,  understandable,  and  permanent;  interviewing 
and  enrolling  students;  furnishing  data  to  principals  of  pre- 
paratory schools;  procuring  programme  and  appointment 
cards;  assigning  class  divisions;  arranging  for  entrance  exam- 
inations; making  schedules;  revising  catalogues;  determining 
class  standing;  passing  upon  credentials;  the  control  of  class 
attendance  and  absences;  compiling  statistics;  supplying  the 
president  and  deans  with  records;  serving  upon  committees 
of  which  she  is  occasionally  the  secretary;  and  in  some  colleges 
possibly  acting  as  secretary  to  the  faculty. 

Training  necessary  —  Qualifications 

I  KNOW  of  no  school  which  gives  a  course  for  registrars.  Gen- 
eral academic  studies  in  as  many  departments  as  possible,  to- 
gether with  stenographic  equipment,  general  intelligence,  and 
health  will  help  to  open  the  way,  although  such  positions  are 
usually  reached  only  through  experience  and  natural  fitness. 
The  registrar  should  be  familiar  with  such  acquired  skill  as 
mastering  and  arranging  details,  with  organizing  and  analyz- 
ing material,  with  filing,  indexing,  typing,  and  good  form  in 
correspondence.  The  registrar's  office  is  no  place  for  hasty, 
sketchy  work.   But  even  more  important  are  the  qualifica- 


146  CAREERS  FOR  WOIVIEN 

lions  of  courtesy,  imagination,  diplomacy,  and  tact.  Perhaps 
the  most  important  of  all  qualifications,  whether  acquired  or 
natural,  is  that  of  cooperative  relationship  to  the  president, 
the  deans,  the  business  administration,  the  faculty,  and 
student  body,  some  of  whom,  in  one  form  or  another,  inva- 
riably have  their  weaknesses,  whims,  or  conceits.  At  times 
she  will  appear  as  hard  as  adamant,  but  beneath  it  all  there 
must  be  loyalty  to  the  institution,  initiative,  and  courage. 
The  registrar  who  would  hold  an  influential  position  must 
have  a  very  broad  knowledge  of  the  college  she  serves;  she 
should  study  the  educational  system  of  other  institutions 
and  be  quick  to  appreciate  policies  which  can  be  adapted 
advantageously  to  her  own  college.  She  must  be  willing  to 
accept  as  well  as  to  give  counsel.  Her  policy  should  be  that  of 
the  wide-open  door.  The  best  training  would,  of  course,  come 
from  actual  work  with  an  experienced  registrar,  but  these 
opportunities  are  not  easily  obtained.  The  principal  addresses 
and  papers  of  the  American  Association  of  College  Registrars 
have  been  printed  and  can  be  procured  on  application  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Association,  Ezra  L.  Gillis,  Registrar,  Uni- 
versity of  Kentucky,  accompanied  by  a  payment  of  twenty- 
five  cents  per  copy.  Many  of  the  government  publications 
also  give  valuable  information.  Attendance  at  some  of  the 
current  departmental  conferences  will  give  the  would-be  reg- 
istrar an  insight  into  particular  phases  of  the  work  with  which 
she  should  become  familiar. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  associations  of  the  college  registrar  are  attractive.  It  is 
often  from  her  that  the  student  about  to  enter  a  new  world 
gains  her  first  impressions  of  college.  A  sympathetic  interest 
is  appreciated  by  the  applicant,  and  a  little  encouragement  or 
proper  counsel  given,  in  the  right  manner,  particularly  during 
the  early  days  of  college  —  for  she  is  many  times  the  one  per- 
son with  whom  the  student  feels  she  has  an  acquaintance  — 
may  mean  the  difference  between  failure  and  success.  There 


THE  REGISTRAR  147 

are  ample  opportunities  to  find  the  aspirations,  ideals,  and 
plans  of  the  students  in  the  intimate  and  social  contact  which, 
by  reason  of  the  position  of  the  college  registrar,  are  made 
available.  By  a  little  intelligent  guiding  of  the  students  with 
whom  she  is  associated,  she  can  become  a  real  humanizing 
influence. 

The  hours  are  usually  those  of  a  business  office,  but  the 
successful  registrar  accepts  the  position  as  a  "job"  and  re- 
ceives outside  visitors  or  attends  committee  meetings  at  the 
pleasure  of  others  concerned,  even  though  it  means  the  giving- 
up  of  some  cherished  personal  appointment. 

Supply  and  demand 

Such  positions  are,  of  course,  comparatively  few,  there  being 
but  one  for  each  college.  The  larger  colleges  have  assistant 
registrars  and  officers  to  whom  are  given  the  entire  responsi- 
bility of  certain  phases  of  the  work,  such  as  College  Recorder, 
Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Admission,  etc. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  is  on  a  parity  with  that  of  the  college 
teacher.  The  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of 
Teaching,  in  its  rules  for  the  admission  of  institutions  and  for 
the  granting  of  retiring  allowances,  made  the  following  pro- 
vision: "Librarians,  registrars,  recorders,  and  administrative 
officers  of  long  tenure,  whose  salaries  may  be  classed  with 
those  of  professors  and  assistant  professors,  are  considered 
eligible  to  the  benefits  of  a  retiring  allowance.**  The  founda- 
tion has  since  introduced  a  plan  for  insurance  and  annuities. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  are  not  large;  the  regis- 
trar who  hopes  for  advancement  must  not  only  welcome  but 
also  seek  responsibilities. 


148  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  SCHOOL  SUPERINTENDENT 

MARY  C.  MELLYN 

Assistant  Superintendent,  Boston  Public  Schools 

Description  of  occupation 

The  superintendent  of  schools  is  the  chief  executive  of  a 
school  system.  The  woman  who  holds  this  position  may  be 
the  educational  leader  in  a  large  city;  if  so,  she  works  with  a 
board  of  superintendents  as  her  assistants,  to  each  of  whom 
is  delegated  a  special  portion  of  the  administrative  field;  she 
may  serve  alone  in  a  smaller  city  or  town,  or  she  may  have 
in  her  charge,  as  in  Massachusetts,  a  group  of  small  towns 
with  their  many  varying  problems.  In  the  South  and  West, 
she  may  be  chosen  as  county  superintendent;  if  so,  her  juris- 
diction extends  over  a  larger  territory  than  some  of  our  East- 
em  States;  or  she  may  be  chosen  as  the  State  Superintendent 
of  Instruction,  and,  to-day,  in  the  eight  States  of  Montana, 
Wyoming,  Idaho,  Washington,  Kansas,  Colorado,  Texas,  and 
North  Dakota  women  hold  this  office. 

As  an  executive  officer  her  duties  are  various;  she  is  charged 
with  the  examination,  appointment,  supervision,  promotion 
and  removal  of  teachers,  and  with  their  training  and  improve- 
ment while  in  service.  She  has  power  to  recommend  the 
adoption  or  discontinuance  of  textbooks  which  means  that 
she  must  be  a  discriminating  and  careful  student  of  subjects 
and  methods  of  teaching.  She  is  concerned  with  the  attend- 
ance of  children  in  schools,  with  the  enforcement  of  com- 
pulsory education  laws,  and  with  the  employment  of  children 
of  school  age.  Through  those  to  whom  she  delegates  the  task, 
she  is  the  inspirer  and  interpreter  of  the  curriculum,  which 
must  be  adapted  to  all  the  needs  of  the  pupils  of  the  kin- 
dergarten, elementary  and  secondary  schools,  to  the  adult 
illiterate,  and  the  exceptional  child. 


THE  SCHOOL  SUPERINTENDENT         ,  149 

Preparation  necessary 

The  training  of  the  many  superintendents  of  schools  is  varied; 
but  the  demands  of  the  system  in  a  large  city  require  a  broad 
scholastic  preparation  which  gives  a  background  of  general 
culture,  for  this  alone  makes  educational  leadership  possible. 
In  addition  to  this,  there  should  be  professional  study  in 
normal  school  or  in  the  schools  of  education  in  our  univer- 
sities. Graduate  work  in  education  is  a  necessity,  now,  for  a 
mature  grasp  of  educational  theory,  but  this  should  be  in- 
timately associated  with  experience  in  the  classroom.  The 
superintendent  of  schools  should  be  familiar  with  the  prob- 
lems of  teaching  through  her  own  living,  personal  contact 
with  the  actual  day's  work.  The  large  majority  of  women  in 
these  important  positions  have  reached  them  by  promotion 
through  the  system,  so  that  familiarity  with  classroom  prob- 
lems is  part  of  their  equipment  for  this  difficult  office. 

Supply  and  demand 

Los  Angeles  is  the  only  large  city  in  which  there  is  a  woman 
superintendent  to-day.  There  are  many  small  cities  in  the 
West  with  populations  varying  from  5000  to  15,000  in  which 
women  are  at  the  helm.  In  the  large  cities  where  men  are  the 
chief  executives,  there  are  usually  several  women  district 
superintendents  whose  duties  are  concerned  with  the  dis- 
cipline of  schools,  the  visiting  and  rating  of  teachers,  etc. 
There  are  other  women  serving  as  assistant  or  associate  super- 
intendents, with  duties  similar  to  those  of  the  superintendent. 
These  women  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  their  men  as- 
sociates, meeting  the  various  problems  in  the  administrative 
field  with  courage,  skill,  and  marked  success. 

But  the  heroism  and  romance  of  our  work  is  written  into 
the  lives  of  the  valiant  women  who  are  serving  as  county 
superintendents  in  the  South  and  West.  There,  through 
winter  storm  and  summer  simshine,  over  roads  almost  impass- 
able, with  an  extent  of  country  of  fifteen  hundred  square 
miles  and  more,  these  intrepid  women  have  gone  through  the 


150  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

length  and  breadth  of  their  domain,  inspiring  and  improving 
teaching,  enforcing  compulsory  education  laws,  fighting  for 
child  welfare,  and  lifting  the  stigma  of  illiteracy  from  souls 
eager  for  the  opportunity  to  learn.  To  their  honor  be  it  said, 
and  to  the  pride  of  all  of  us  who  glory  in  the  achievement  of 
other  women,  the  States  in  which  the  women  have  served  as 
county  superintendents  have  no  such  record  of  illiteracy  as 
those  in  which  women  have  not  as  yet  been  accepted  for  this 
oflfice.^ 

"Our  figures  seem  to  show,"  says  A.  S.  Monahan  (specialist 
for  the  Bureau  of  Education),  "that  the  women  county  super- 
intendents have  a  better  general  education  than  the  men; 
they  devote  a  larger  percentage  of  their  time  to  visiting 
schools;  the  prevailing  number  of  visits  to  each  school  is 
greater  and  the  time  spent  with  each  teacher  is  longer.  "^ 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

What  are  the  qualifications  for  this  work?  Granted  adequate 
educational  preparation,  they  are,  first,  vision;  second,  a 
genuine  interest  in  human  beings  and  their  welfare;  third,  an 
"aptitude  for  vicariousness,"  the  power  to  put  one's  self  in 
a  subordinate's  place  and  see  one's  ruling  through  his  eyes; 
fourth,  a  strict  adherence  to  truth  and  justice;  fifth,  the 
power  to  legislate  through  the  establishment  of  definite  pol- 
icies instead  of  individual  judgments;  and,  finally,  everlasting 
patience  with  one's  fellow-men.  Add  to  this,  the  energy  to 
work,  if  necessary,  twenty  hours  out  of  twenty-four,  to  take 
part  in  everything  which  makes  for  community  betterment  — 
for  education  is  a  social  process  in  which  the  school  must  have 
its  share  —  and  the  courage  to  stand  for  principle,  cost  what 
it  may,  and  you  have  the  qualifications  for  a  leader  in  school 
work. 

*  School  Board  Journal,  January,  1918. 

'  Proceedings,  National  Education  Association,  1916,  p.  1031. 


THE  SCHOOL  SUPERINTENDENT  151 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  range  from  the  pitifully  small  stipend  of  the  town 
and  county  superintendents  to  the  comparatively  larger  sal- 
ary of  the  superintendent  of  great  cities  like  New  York  or 
Chicago;  but  as  a  whole  they  are  not  comparable,  to-day, 
with  the  compensation  earned  by  executives  who  carry  no 
heavier  responsibilities  in  other  lines  of  endeavor.  But  to  the 
everlasting  honor  of  those  who  bring  to  their  work  the  dream 
of  the  artist,  it  may  well  be  said,  "Though  the  direct  returns 
are  small,  the  indirect  —  the  wages  of  a  life  —  are  incalcula- 
bly great.  No  other  work  offers  a  man  his  daily  bread  upon 
such  joyful  terms." 

Suggested  reading 

See  Reports  of  the  following:  Bureau  of  Education;  Proceed- 
ings of  National  Education  Association;  Superintendent's 
Reports,  Boston,  Chicago,  New  York,  St.  Louis,  and  other 
large  cities  for  interesting  material  concerning  the  work  of 
women  in  administrative  positions. 


< 


FINANCE 
THE  BOND  SALESWOMAN 


CLARA  PORTER 

Guaranty  Trust  Company,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

The  missionary  work  of  bond-selling  is  extremely  diflScult  and 
extremely  important.  The  most  successful  salesmen  or  sales- 
women develop  their  own  clientele  after  arduous  weeks  and 
months  of  what  often  seems  like  unproductive  effort.  It  is 
not  easy  to  enter  the  office  of  a  busy  man,  sit  by  his  desk,  and, 
in  the  few  minutes  allotted  to  you,  convince  him  that  the 
investment  securities  handled  by  your  house  will  meet  his 
requirements.  The  saleswoman  must  have  a  large  fund  of 
technical  knowledge  as  her  mental  background.  She  must  be 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  goods  she  offers  are  suitable 
for  the  requirements  of  her  particular  client,  and  she  must  be 
free  from  all  self -consciousness  in  making  her  offering. 

Preparation  necessary 

While  I  do  not  regard  a  college  education  or  its  equivalent 
necessary,  I  do  believe  that,  all  things  being  equal,  the  col- 
lege woman  will  be  at  a  much  greater  advantage  in  acquiring 
the  necessary  technical  information  concerning  bonds.  A 
woman  who  has  a  liking  for  mathematics,  economics,  and  who 
has  an  interest  in  all  civic  problems  will  probably  be  inter- 
ested in  the  study  of  investment  securities.  If  psychology  is 
added  to  this  list,  she  will  have  a  good  basis  for  successful 
bond  saleswomanship. 

Financial  return 

Generally  speaking,  selling  offers  larger  financial  rewards 

than  almost  any  other  line  of  business.  It  is  natural  that  thig 


THE  BOND  SALESWOMAN  153 

should  be  so.  The  business  producer  has  actual  facts  to  prove 
her  own  value  to  her  firm.  During  the  first  six  months  it  is 
probable,  however,  that  most  bond  salesmen  do  not  earn  their 
overhead  expenses.  These  early  months  are  given  to  develop- 
ing a  clientele  and  $1200  a  year  is  frequently  more  than  sales- 
men or  women  are  worth.  The  compensation  after  this  period 
will  bear  a  direct  relation  to  the  business  produced.  A  number 
of  brilliant  salesmen  in  good  markets  frequently  earn  as  much 
as  $30,000  or  $40,000  a  year. 

Qualifications 

Of  all  the  qualifications  necessary  for  bond  salesmanship 
I  should  place  health  first,  courage  second,  and  perseverance 
third,  assuming,  of  course,  that  the  necessary  technical  in- 
formation has  been  obtained. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  selling,  in  my  opinion,  are  many  and  va- 
ried, and  the  disadvantages  so  few  that  they  are  negligible. 
The  saleswoman  has  a  wonderful  opportunity  to  get  a  general 
fund  of  information  concerning  practically  every  kind  of 
business  and  profession.  Her  time  is  her  own;  she  is  inde- 
pendent and  responsible  for  results  only.  Bond-selling  is  a 
very  healthy  outdoor  life,  but  it  is  a  strenuous  life  physically. 
The  saleswoman  working  up  her  clientele  should  make  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  calls  daily.  It  has  been  said  very  truly 
that  every  salesman  is  in  business  for  himself.  There  is  no 
business  to  my  knowledge  where  good  work  is  so  conspicuous 
nor  where  it  is  more  appreciated.  The  sales  record  speaks  for 
itself.  It  is  n*t  difficult  to  figure  just  what  is  actually  earned, 
and,  as  I  said  before,  the  compensation  bears  a  direct  relation 
to  the  amount  of  business  produced.  Furthermore,  a  person 
engaged  in  bond-selling  need  never  lack  mental  stimulation. 
It  requires  constant  effort  to  keep  up  with  a  market  which  is 
expanding  every  day  in  order  to  provide  for  new  financing,  and 
to  make  even  a  superficial  study  of  such  a  variety  of  securi- 
ties is  stimulating. 


154  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

In  the  investment  field  it  is  an  exceedingly  good  stepping- 
stone  for  a  partnership  or  other  executive  work.  The  ambi- 
tious saleswoman  will  have  something  of  this  kind  in  mind. 
But  no  matter  what  the  ultimate  work  may  be,  selling  will 
prove  to  be  a  most  valuable  experience. 

Supply  and  demand 

Comparatively  few  women  have  invaded  the  field  of  bond- 
selling.  At  present  there  are  probably  about  twenty-five 
women  in  New  York  City  selling  bonds.  There  will  be  a  great 
many  more  in  the  future,  just  as  there  will  be  a  great  many 
more  women  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  business-producing  jobs. 


THE  FINANCIAL  ADVISOR 

FLORENCE  A.  WARNER 

Hotne  Department  Director,  Maine  State  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
Agricvltural  League 

Description  of  occupation 

The  financial  advisor  is  a  woman  of  experience  who  is  em- 
ployed by  a  bank  to  help  women  clients  with  their  financial 
problems,  both  in  the  budgeting  of  their  income,  the  wise  in- 
vestment of  money,  and  the  banking  methods  of  checking 
accounts,  savings  accounts,  etc.^ 

Preparation  necessary 

Preparation  should  include  home  economics  training,  plus 
definite  training  in  banking  methods  along  the  lines  indicated 
above,  plus  practical  experience  in  managing  a  household. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  will  vary;  there  has  been  no  minimum  or 
maximum  set  up  by  any  institution  doing  this  work,  but  I 
would  rather  incline  to  the  opinion  that  $2000  would  be  the 
minimum  and  $5000  the  maximum. 


THE  SECURITY  SALESWOMAN  155 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  chief  qualifications  are  sound  judgment,  knowledge  of 
minimum  living  requirements,  sympathy,  and  skill  in  reading 
human  nature. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Among  the  advantages  are:  great  variety  of  work,  contact 
with  leaders  in  the  business  world,  and  pleasant  surroundings. 
The  disadvantages  are  the  calls  for  assistance  outside  of 
business  hours  and  evening  work. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  is  not  yet  established  and  the  supply  is  unknown. 
I  know  of  only  six  women  in  the  United  States  now  doing 
this  work.  They  are  in  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania, New  York  City,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  Port- 
land, Maine. 


THE  SECURITY  SALESWOMAN 

LOA  E.  SCOTT 

HaydeUy  Miller  &  Company y  Cleveland,  Ohio 

The  following  is  from  the  standpoint  of  the  conservative 
investment  banking  house,  not  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
broker: 

Description  of  occupation 

Selling  investment  securities  to  women. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

I  DO  not  know  of  any  schools  giving  special  work  in  training 
for  investment  banking  positions.  The  training  is  obtained 
"on  the  job"  and  my  experience  would  indicate  that  about 
two  years  are  required  to  perfect  a  salesman.  The  best  train- 
ing is  a  broad,  general  education,  collegiate  if  possible.  Psy- 
chology, economics,  and  sociology  are  of  great  value. 


156  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  are  unlimited  possibilities  for  advancement  depend- 
ing upon  the  ability  and  vision  of  the  woman. 

Financial  return 

The  range  of  salaries  varies  from  about  $800  to  $5000  accord- 
ing to  training,  ability,  and  general  qualifications. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

It  is  necessary  to  possess  a  liking  for  individuals  and  people; 
ability  to  see  the  position  free  from  selfish  gain  and  as  possess- 
ing vast  possibilities  for  service  to  women;  ability  to  get  the 
point  of  view  of  the  person  to  whom  you  are  talking;  in  other 
words,  to  get  out  of  yourself  and  to  project  yourself  into  the 
mind  of  the  other  person.  Without  this  ability  you  cannot 
correctly  analyze  her  problems.  Also  one  must  have  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  the  nature  of  securities;  the  history  of 
finance;  panics,  their  causes,  ability  to  differentiate  between 
the  investment  and  the  speculation;  ability  to  take  each 
woman's  individual  investment  problem  and  analyze  it  sci- 
entifically; confidence  in  own  ability,  a  large  amount  of  tact 
and  unlimited  good-nature. 

Extent  of  occupation 

As  yet,  few  investment  banking  houses  have  a  women's  de- 
partment. There  is  little  or  no  demand.  In  fact,  if  a  woman 
desires  to  do  this  kind  of  work  she  must  largely  create  the 
demand  by  convincing  some  good  banking  house  that  it  needs 
her  services.  The  future  looks  very  attractive. 

The  number  of  women  acting  as  head  of  a  women's  depart- 
ment or  as  saleswomen  is  small.  Probably  not  over  twenty- 
five  or  thirty. 

Reading 

"How  to  Get  Ahead"  —  Allen  Atwood.    (Merrill,  $1.25.)   A 
popular  treatise  on  the  general  subject  of  investments. 


THE  SECURITY  SALESWOMAN  157 

"How  to  Invest  Money"  —  Henry.  ($.75)  Discusses  bonds 
and  stocks  in  a  popular  way. 

"Sound  Investing"  —  Clay. 

"Practical  Investing"  —  Escher. 

"Investment  Bonds"  —  Lownhaupt.  A  splendid  book,  not 
so  detailed  as  Chamberlain's  book  and  less  technical. 

"The  Careful  Investor"  —  Meade. 

"Work  of  the  Bond  House"  —  Chamberlain.  This  is  a  splen- 
did little  book  in  which  to  see  just  what  is  the  work  of 
the  investment  banker. 

"Principles  of  Bond  Investment" — Chamberlain.  ($5.00.) 
This  is  the  most  complete  book  on  the  subject. 

"Analyses  of  Investments"  —  Moody.  This  is  commonly 
used  for  reference. 


GOVERNMENT  SERVICE 
WOMEN  IN  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE 

MARY  N.  WINSLOW 
Industrial  Agent,  Women's  Bureau,  U.S.  Department  of  Labor 

Occupations  in  the  Government  Service  which  are  open  to 
women  may  be  said  to  include  practically  every  form  of  em- 
ployment, for  not  only  does  our  Government  lead  as  the 
country's  largest  employer,  but  the  range  of  its  activities  far 
exceeds  that  of  other  public  or  private  agencies.  In  addition 
to  its  large  tasks  of  law-making  and  law-enforcing,  of  national 
defense  and  managing  national  finance,  the  Government  is 
charged  with  promoting  the  health  and  welfare  of  its  people, 
of  promoting  their  home  interests,  their  agricultural,  mining, 
manufacturing,  shipping,  fishing,  and  transportation  interests. 
To  do  this  it  must  investigate,  control,  and  eradicate  dis- 
eases that  attack  persons,  plants,  and  animals;  it  must  inspect 
live  stock,  foods,  and  drugs;  it  must  study  conditions  and 
progress  in  education,  labor,  and  commerce,  and  advise  the 
people  concerning  the  best  methods  of  reaching  desired  re- 
sults; it  must  prevent  individual  men  or  groups  of  men  from 
using  unfair  business  methods,  whether  in  banking,  in  trans- 
portation, in  trade,  or  in  manufacture,  and  it  must  do  many 
other  things  that  no  individual  or  group  of  individuals  can 
do  for  itself.  The  Government  also  looks  after  its  public 
lands;  it  administers  the  affairs  of  the  Indian  tribes  and  edu- 
cates the  Alaskan  children.  It  grants  patents  of  invention, 
furnishes  the  country  standard  time,  forecasts  the  weather 
and  makes  observations  of  heavenly  bodies.  It  constructs  all 
buildings,  docks,  roads,  bridges,  irrigation  works,  and  other 
public  works  which  are  for  national  use.  It  builds  ships  and 
aeroplanes,  makes  ordnance  and  ammunition,  makes  clothing 


WOMEN  IN  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE        159 

and  other  supplies  for  the  sailor  and  soldier.  It  makes  all 
money  and  does  all  its  own  printing.  It  distributes  all  mail 
and  many  packages. 

Among  these  multiple  activities  the  work  which  would  ap- 
peal most  strongly  to  college  women  will  probably  be  found 
in  the  scientific  and  professional  services.  The  character  of 
this  work  is  very  similar  throughout  the  various  departments 
in  which  it  is  carried  on.  The  subject-matters  treated  and 
the  technical  knowledge  required  to  do  the  work  vary  widely, 
but  the  methods  of  applying  this  knowledge  and  the  results 
to  be  achieved  have  many  qualities  in  common.  Whether  the 
field  is  human  life,  plant  or  animal  life,  or  physics,  chemistry, 
mineralogy,  geology,  astronomy,  or  mechanics,  further  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  fundamental  principles  operative  in  each 
field  is  obtained  by  testing,  observing,  and  analyzing,  some- 
times in  the  laboratory,  sometimes  in  the  locality  where  a 
given  condition  exists.  Each  search  for  knowledge  requires 
experts,  scientific  assistants,  and  many  helpers.  Existing  con- 
ditions in  all  fields  of  endeavor  are  reported  upon  by  our  Gov- 
ernment agents  who  go  forth  from  the  department  particu- 
larly interested  to  collect  the  essential  information  direct 
from  original  sources.  The  results  of  the  experimentations 
and  investigations  are  made  known  to  the  public  through 
pamphlets,  printed  reports,  and  lectures,  or  by  demonstra- 
tion agents  who  convey  the  facts  to  the  groups  of  people  to 
whom  the  information  has  practical  value.  A  list  of  positions 
open  to  women  in  these  scientific  and  professional  services 
would  be  too  long  for  inclusion  here,  but  the  titles  of  a  few 
will  serve  to  indicate  the  scope  of  the  opportunity  along  these 
lines:  specialist  in  home  economics,  expert  in  textiles,  micro- 
analyst,  microscopist,  bacteriological  technician,  pathologist 
in  cereal  diseases,  inspector  in  dairy  products,  fish  culturist, 
associate  chemist,  mineral  geographer,  assistant  observer  in 
the  Weather  Bureau,  acting  assistant  surgeon,  sanitary  biolo- 
gist, dental  hygienist,  dietitian,  draftsmen  of  all  sorts,  special 
agent  for  trade  and  industrial  education,  expert  in  child  well- 


160  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

fare,  head  nurse,  teacher  of  high  school  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  teacher  of  music,  editorial  clerk,  librarian,  statisti- 
cian, botanical  artist. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  positions  which  women  can  fill 
in  various  governmental  departments  and  the  list  shows  that 
for  interesting,  valuable,  and  constructive  work  the  Govern- 
ment service  offers  a  broad  field.  But  there  is  another  ques- 
tion which  must  be  answered  satisfactorily  before  the  best 
type  of  women  will  be  recruited  in  large  numbers  to  this  work, 
and  that  question  is  the  all-important  one  of  salary.  Up  to 
the  present  time  the  majority  of  the  scientific  and  profes- 
sional positions  in  the  Government  service  have  not  com- 
manded as  high  a  salary  as  similar  positions  outside  of  the 
Government.  In  March,  1919,  however,  a  commission  was 
appointed  by  Congress  to  study  and  reclassify  all  positions 
in  the  Government  service,  and  to  submit  a  report  and  recom- 
mendations to  Congress.  This  "Reclassification  Commis- 
sion," as  it  was  called,  made  a  complete  and  detailed  study 
of  the  duties  and  salaries  of  all  Government  positions,  com- 
pared these  duties  and  salaries  with  similar  positions  outside 
of  the  Government  service,  and  has  very  recently  issued  a 
report  recommending  a  considerable  readjustment  of  posi- 
tions and  salaries  bringing  them  more  nearly  up  to  the  level 
of  conditions  elsewhere. 

The  "employment  agent"  for  the  Government  is  the 
United  States  Civil  Service  Commission,  and  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions it  is  the  duty  of  that  body  to  secure  the  proper  per- 
son for  each  of  the  multitude  of  positions  which  must  be  filled. 
Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  establish  a  list  of  persons  eligible 
for  appointment  to  a  certain  position,  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission sends  out  notifications  of  the  time  and  localities  in 
which  an  examination  will  be  held,  of  the  requirements  which 
candidates  must  meet  to  be  eligible  for  examination,  of  the 
subject-matter  to  be  covered,  and  duties  and  salary  of  the 
position.  After  the  examination  has  been  held,  the  paper  of 
each  candidate  is  marked  and  she  is  notified  of  her  rating, 


WOMEN  IN  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE        161 

which  determines  her  standing  on  the  Hst  from  which  appoint- 
ments are  made. 

Out  of  the  Government's  constant  need  for  workers  have 
arisen  three  types  of  appointments.  Those  to  permanent  po- 
sitions (commonly  called  "probational  appointments"  be- 
cause the  appointee  must  give  six  months'  satisfactory  serv- 
ice before  he  or  she  can  become  a  permanent  employee)  are 
received  by  persons  who  have  successfully  passed  civil  service 
examinations.  Temporary  appointments  are  made  for  short 
periods  either  of  persons  on  the  civil  service  register  of  eli- 
gibles  or,  when  no  such  register  is  available,  of  people  who 
have  not  passed  qualifying  tests.  The  latter  group  cannot 
retain  their  temporary  appointments  after  the  requisite  ex- 
amination is  held.  The  third  type  of  appointment  is  to  posi- 
tions which  are  excepted  from  examinations  by  law  or  by 
Executive  order. 

Before  November  15,  1919,  there  was  a  very  large  number 
of  examinations  which  were  not  open  to  women.  On  that 
date,  however,  after  the  submission  of  a  report  by  the  Women's 
Bureau  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor  showing 
to  how  great  an  extent  women  were  being  discriminated 
against  in  the  matter  of  civil  service  examinations,  the  Civil 
Service  Commission  passed  a  ruling  opening  all  examina- 
tions to  both  men  and  women.  Of  course,  this  rule  does  not 
require  a  department  or  bureau  chief  to  appoint  a  woman  if 
a  man  is  wanted,  or  vice  versa,  but  it  does  open  the  examina- 
tions to  both  sexes  and  permits  both  men  and  women  to  be 
put  on  every  eligible  list,  so  that  whichever  sex  is  desired  ap- 
pointments may  be  made  without  holding  a  special  examina- 
tion, and  when  there  is  no  preference,  men  and  women  have 
an  equal  chance  for  appointment. 

With  this  ruling  in  force  and  with  an  equitable  adjustment 
of  salaries  according  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Reclassi- 
fication Commission  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  there  will  be  a  con- 
siderable increase  of  women  in  the  more  responsible  positions 
in  the  Government  service.  The  opportunities  are  manifold. 


162  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

and  many  of  the  positions  carry  with  them  the  reward  of  the 
very  real  prestige  that  is  given  to  a  worker  in  the  public  serv- 
ice. Any  woman  who  is  entering  on  her  career  would  do  well 
to  send  to  the  Civil  Service  Commission  in  Washington  for 
announcements  of  examinations  for  positions  along  the  lines 
in  which  she  is  interested.  The  different  departments  and 
bureaus  are  always  ready  to  give  additional  information  about 
their  activities  so  that  prospective  candidates  for  examina- 
tion may  be  fully  informed  of  the  work  they  will  be  expected 
to  do. 

Women  in  the  Government  service  as  in  every  other  service 
are  becoming  more  numerous,  more  important,  and  better 
paid.  The  field  is  open  to  them.  All  that  is  necessary  now  is 
individual  initiative  and  they  will  be  able  to  win  to  such  a 
position  in  the  Government  service  as  they  are  achieving 
elsewhere. 


HEALTH  SERVICES 
THE  BABY  HYGIENE  WORKER » 

ANNA  M.  RUSS 
Baby  Hygiene  Association,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

The  Baby  Hygiene  Association  is  a  private  charitable  or- 
ganization engaged  in  preventive  and  educational  work  with 
Boston's  well  babies  under  two  years  of  age,  and,  to  a  limited 
extent,  with  well  children  of  the  pre-school  age.  The  purpose 
of  the  association  is  to  keep  well  babies  well,  to  reduce  the 
death-rate  among  babies,  to  teach  mothers  motherhood,  and 
to  improve  the  milk  supply.  The  following  methods  are  em- 
ployed in  the  infant  welfare  work:  maintenance  of  welfare 
stations;  encouragement  of  breast  feeding;  distribution  of 
clean  milk;  instruction  in  proper  feeding,  care,  and  hygiene 
of  infants,  by  means  of  conferences  with  physicians  at  the 
stations,  visits  by  nurses  in  the  homes,  and  coop)eration  with 
public  health  authorities  and  social  agencies  in  all  matters 
affecting  infant  welfare.  In  the  child  welfare  work  the  duty 
of  the  dietitian  is  to  supervise  the  general  care  of  the  children, 
their  habits  of  eating,  sleeping,  playing,  and  living  through 
home  visiting,  giving  home  and  class  lessons  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  proper  food  for  the  children  and  proper  clothing,  and 
marketing.  Graduate  nurses  have  charge  of  the  welfare  work 
with  infants  up  to  two  years  of  age,  and  trained  dietitians 
look  after  the  older  children  from  two  to  six  years.  The  latter 
part  of  the  work  has  been  developed  during  the  past  year  and 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  eventually  cover  the  whole  area  where 
infant  work  is  carried  on. 

*  The  conditions  stated  are  those  of  the  Baby  Hygiene  Association. 


164  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Preparation  necessary 

A  BABY  hygiene  nurse  must  be  a  graduate  of  a  reputable  hos- 
pital. She  must  be  a  nurse  who  has  had  training  or  experi- 
ence in  infant  care,  and  public  health  nursing  is  usually  pre- 
ferred. Nurses  who  have  completed  the  post-graduate  course 
in  public  health  nursing  at  Simmons  College,  given  under 
the  direction  of  the  District  Nursing  Association,  or  at  Colum- 
bia University  in  New  York,  are  desirable  applicants.  During 
the  course  at  Simmons,  the  student  nurses  get  a  month's  prac- 
tical training  with  the  Baby  Hygiene  Association.  The  dieti- 
tians are  required  to  have  thorough  training  in  dietetics.  The 
course  in  household  economics  at  Simmons  College  is  a  very 
satisfactory  preparation. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

It  is  possible  for  a  nurse  employed  by  the  Baby  Hygiene  As- 
sociation to  advance  to  the  position  of  supervising  nurse. 
There  is  a  widespread  movement  to  establish  similar  organi- 
zations throughout  the  country  and  abroad,  and  those  who 
are  successful  in  their  work  with  us  are  well  fitted  to  organize 
this  sort  of  work  in  a  new  field. 

Financial  return 

Nurses  receive  $95  a  month  during  their  first  two  months  of 

service,  which  is  a  probation  period,  and  if  they  are  appointed 

to  the  staff  they  receive  $100  a  month  for  the  remainder  of 

the  first  year.  From  that  time  on  their  promotion  is  by  merit, 

and  the  maximum  is  $120  a  month.  Dietitians  receive  $100  a 

month. 

Qualifications 

Necessaby  qualifications  for  this  type  of  work  are  an  under- 
standing of  human  nature,  tact,  sympathy,  unselfishness, 
patience,  loyalty,  imagination,  and  initiative.  Furthermore, 
sound  training  for  this  special  field,  teaching  ability,  and  the 
power  to  see  social  problems  and  solve  them  properly  are 
indispensable. 


THE  BABY  HYGIENE  WORKER  165 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

OuK  workers  are  dealing  directly  with  human  beings  and  are 
doing  a  work  which  is  vitally  important  to  all  society.  It  is 
impossible  for  the  work  to  become  mechanical  or  boresome, 
because  new  problems  are  continually  arising,  and  new  people 
are  constantly  coming  under  the  supervision  of  the  workers. 
There  is  a  splendid  opportunity  to  come  in  close  touch  with 
people  of  different  races  and  nationalities.  Since  home  visit- 
ing constitutes  the  major  part  of  the  work,  the  workers  are 
out  of  doors  a  great  deal.  The  hours  are  regular,  usually.  A 
month's  vacation  is  given  at  the  end  of  a  year's  service,  and 
two  weeks*  sick-leave,  with  pay,  is  allowed  each  year  in  most 
institutions. 

The  workers'  office  hours  are  from  eight  to  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  This  is  the  only  definite  time  they  have  for 
being  at  their  stations,  except  during  conference.  In  districts 
where  there  is  only  one  nurse,  one  conference  a  week  is  held, 
but  where  there  are  two  nurses  the  conferences  occur  twice 
a  week.  Dietitians  have  weekly  conferences  of  their  own. 
However,  in  order  to  keep  the  accurate,  detailed  records  re- 
quired, the  workers  need  more  than  an  hour  a  day,  and  they 
plan  their  days  the  way  that  suits  them  best.  A  weekly  sta- 
tistical report  is  sent  in  by  each  worker  to  the  main  office. 
At  four  of  the  stations,  milk  is  sold  in  the  early  forenoon  to 
families  with  babies  under  our  care. 

Extent  of  occupation 

During  the  war,  when  the  large  number  of  remedial  defects 
of  soldiers  were  shown  up  in  their  physical  examinations,  the 
great  need  for  preventive  work  in  early  life  became  glaringly 
apparent.  Hence  organizations  similar  to  ours  are  springing 
up  everywhere.  We  are  getting  inquiries  about  our  work 
from  people  in  many  different  States,  and  even  from  Europe 
and  South  America.  Hence,  there  is  the  widest  possible  field 
for  capable,  trained  workers.  During  the  year  1919  the  total 
number  under  our  care  was  10,327.  The  nurses  made  109,732 


166  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

home  visits,  and  the  dietitians  13,839.  The  conference  attend- 
ance was  49,658.  There  are  thirty  nurses  and  five  dietitians 
on  the  staff. 

Reading 

All  pubHcations  of  the  Children's  Bureau,  Washington,  D.C. 

"TheBaby'sFirstTwo  Years"— Dr.  Smith  andMrs.  Greene. 

"The  Care  and  Feeding  of  Children"  —  Dr.  L.  Emmet  Holt. 

"Diseases  of  Nutrition  and  Infant  Feeding"  —  Morse  and 
Talbot. 

"Caloric  Feeding  of  Infants"  —  Dr.  Dennett. 

Books  for  sale  by  National  Child  Welfare  Assn.,  Educational 
Building,  70  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City:  "The  Baby 
Book,"  "Childhood  and  Health,"  "Child  Welfare  Hand- 
book." 

THE  CHILD  HYGIENE  WORKER 

S.  JOSEPHINE  BAKER,  M.D.,  D.P.H. 

Director^  Bureau  of  Child  Hygiene,  Department  of  Health,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

Practically  every  position  in  child  hygiene  work  is  open  to 
women.  The  term  "child  hygiene"  is  a  broad  one  and  prac- 
tically every  branch  of  public  health  work  for  children  is 
included.  This  may  be  done  either  under  public  health  au- 
thorities, such  as  boards  of  health  in  the  States  or  local  com- 
munities, or  it  may  be  carried  on  by  private  organizations, 
such  as  public  welfare  agencies  or  baby  health  station  soci- 
eties which  are  common  in  many  of  our  cities  and  towns. 

In  general,  the  type  of  work  covered  by  the  term  "child 
hygiene  "  is  the  attempt  to  reduce  the  sickness  and  death-rate 
of  children  by  means  of  preventive  hygiene.  This  means 
that  mothers  are  educated  in  proper  methods  of  child  care 
and  that  every  possible  effort  is  made  to  see  that  children  live 
in  wholesome  manner,  surrounded  by  the  proper  influences 
which  make  for  good  health.  Specifically,  the  work  includes 


THE  CHILD  HYGIENE  WORKER  167 

the  following  functions:  (1)  the  reduction  of  infant  mortality 
by  means  of  pre-natal  work  and  post-natal  work,  including 
the  establishment  of  baby  health  stations,  instruction  of 
mothers  in  the  care  of  babies,  formation  of  Little  Mothers 
Leagues,  etc.;  (2)  the  reduction  of  maternal  morbidity  and 
mortality  through  the  supervision  of  midwives;  (3)  reduction 
in  the  sickness  and  death-rate  of  children  of  pre-school  age 
(two  to  six  years)  by  means  of  special  health  centers,  physical 
examination  of  all  children  of  this  age  and  proper  follow-up 
in  the  home  to  see  that  preventive  measures  are  carried  out 
and  the  necessary  treatment  provided;  (4)  health  supervision 
of  all  children  of  school  age  by  means  of  school  medical  in- 
spection, which  includes  the  prevention  and  control  of  infec- 
tious diseases,  physical  examination  of  school  children,  follow- 
up  work  necessary  to  obtain  proper  treatment  and  to  see  that 
the  home  conditions  are  hygienic,  the  establishment  of  special 
classes  for  handicapped  children  and  the  maintenance  of 
clinics  for  the  treatment  of  dental  and  eye  defects. 

Training  necessary 

Practically  all  positions  in  child  hygiene  work  require  spe- 
cial training.  It  is  necessary  for  women  to  have  the  degree  of 
"Doctor  of  Medicine"  or  to  be  registered  nurses  in  order  to 
obtain  positions  in  this  line,  when  it  is  carried  on  under  public 
health  authorities.  In  the  case  of  private  agencies  there  are  a 
few  openings  for  women  with  social  service  training,  although 
the  majority  of  people  employed  are  either  physicians  or 
nurses.  Ordinary  medical  courses  and  nursing  courses  do  not 
give  adequate  preparation  for  child  hygiene  work,  however, 
and  most  of  the  knowledge  has  to  be  acquired  after  the  posi- 
tion is  obtained.  Within  recent  years  post-graduate  courses 
in  public  health  have  been  established  by  several  colleges, 
notably  Johns  Hopkins,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
University  of  Michigan,  New  York  University,  and  Bellevue 
Hospital  Medical  College.  All  of  these  are  open  to  women. 
Post-graduate  courses  in  public  health  nursing  are  con- 


168  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

ducted  by  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  and,  by 
Simmons  College,  Boston. 

Financial  return 

Physicians  usually  enter  this  work  as  a  part-time  proposi- 
tion; that  is,  they  give  three  hours'  service  a  day.  Salaries 
vary  widely,  from  a  few  hundred  dollars  a  year  in  small  towns 
to  about  fourteen  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  the  same  grade 
of  work  in  New  York  City. 

Opportunities  Jor  advancement 

Advanced  positions  are  those  of  supervising  inspectors, 
chiefs  of  the  various  divisions  dealing  with  special  functions 
of  the  work,  and  director  or  chief  of  the  work  as  a  whole. 
Such  advancement  depends  upon  eflSciency  and  length  of 
service,  with  adaptability  for  the  work.  The  supervising  in- 
spectors, chiefs  of  divisions,  and  director  are  on  full  time. 
The  salaries  of  these  positions  in  New  York  City  range  from 
$3000  to  $5000  per  annum.  In  the  nursing  field  the  posi- 
tions are  full  time  and  the  salaries  range  from  $1200  to  $1400 
for  field  nurses,  $1600  to  $1700  for  supervising  nurses,  while 
the  superintendents  receive  from  $1900  to  $2100  a  year  for 
full-time  work. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

First  of  all,  a  very  distinct  aptitude  and  interest  in  this  type 
of  work.  Public  health  work  for  children  brings  one  in  contact 
with  every  class  of  the  community.  It  is  not  relief  work,  nor 
does  the  nurse  or  doctor  apparently  have  anything  to  offer  to 
the  people  whom  they  visit;  therefore  the  method  of  approach 
requires  extreme  tact,  perseverance,  the  ability  to  get  on  with 
people,  and  a  genuine  liking  for  the  work  and  for  children.  ^ 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  disadvantages  are  few,  and  only  those  which  apply  to  any 

type  of  medical  and  social  service  work.  The  hours  are  from 


THE  DERMATOLOGIST  169 

9  A.M.  to  5  P.M.  daily  except  Saturdays,  when  they  are  from 
9  A.M.  to  noon.  There  is  usually  a  month's  vacation  with  pay, 
extended  sick-leave  with  pay,  and  all  legal  holidays. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  public  health  workers  is  very  great  at  the 
present  time,  particularly  through  the  West.  Training,  how- 
ever, is  essential.  The  opportunities  for  women  in  this  line  of 
work  are  excellent.  While  the  salaries  are  not  large,  there  is 
a  chance  for  the  finest  type  of  public  service.  Wherever  pub- 
lic health  work  for  children  has  been  carried  on,  both  the 
sickness  and  death-rates  have  been  reduced  to  an  enormous 
extent.  This  saving  of  life  and  the  promotion  of  health  and 
well-being  of  the  next  generation  may  well  be  classed  as  one 
of  the  finest  types  of  service  that  can  be  rendered  in  any  com- 
munity. 


THE  DERMATOLOGIST 

ANNA  WALKER  WAKEFIELD 

Description  of  occupation 

Dermatology  is  the  science  which  treats  of  the  skin  and  its 
diseases.  This  field  offers  greater  opportunities  for  advance- 
ment and  larger  financial  returns  in  less  time  than  most  other 
vocations  open  to  women. 

The  chief  work  of  the  dermatologist  consists  mostly  of  what 
is  termed  face- work;  i.e.,  removing  blemishes,  caring  for  dis- 
eased skins,  massaging  the  face  by  hand  which  builds  up 
dropped  muscles  and  nerves,  thereby  restoring  their  strength 
and  replacing  lost  tissue.  The  scalp  is  also  treated  in  this  field 
of  work. 

Preparation  necessary 

I  KNOW  of  no  reliable  schools  where  practical  training  for  this 

vocation  may  be  secured  except  the  school  of  experience 


170  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

which  one  may  enter  by  serving  apprenticeship  under  some 
reUable  dermatologist. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  chief  requisite  one  must  possess  upon  entering  this  pro- 
fession is  a  thorough  knowledge  of  dermatology  plus  a  knowl- 
edge of  circulatory  stimulation.  The  number  of  ignorant, 
incompetent  persons  in  the  profession  is  very  great.  This 
profession,  scientifically,  should  rank  with  the  medical.  The 
universal  employment  of  ice,  vibratory  machines,  hot  and 
cold  cloths  should  be  replaced  by  knowledge  of  dermatol- 
ogy and  the  educating  of  nature's  perfect  instrument  for  this 
work,  the  hand.  Let  the  student  learn  everything  she  pos- 
sibly can  regarding  dermatology  before  venturing  into  this 
field  of  work.  Let  her  be  absolutely  reliable  in  all  her  dealings 
with  clients;  keep  her  standards  high,  and  success  is  bound 
to  follow. 

The  successful  dermatologist  must  have  an  even  disposi- 
tion which  will  give  her  poise  and  inspire  confidence  in  nervous 
patients;  she  must  be  gentle  and  sympathetic  and  have  the 
power  of  discerning  the  good  qualities  of  all  with  whom  she 
comes  in  contact;  she  must  possess  a  magnetic  personality  in 
order  to  influence  her  clients  to  do  the  things  she  wishes  them 
to  do  that  they  may  obtain  successful  results;  she  must  have 
perfect  health  and  be  a  living  demonstration  of  what  her  skill 
can  do. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

If  a  young  woman  can  enter  this  vocation  with  no  mercenary 
motive,  but  a  great  absorbing  desire  to  bring  happiness  and 
successful  results  to  her  patrons,  the  financial  end  will  take 
care  of  itself.  If  she  can  have  the  strength  of  purpose  to  re- 
sist the  temptation  of  large  monetary  rewards  for  selling  to 
the  trusting  client  cheap,  worthless  preparations,  she  will 
ultimately  reap  an  honorable  success  based  on  a  firm  founda- 
tion of  integrity. 


THE  DERMATOLOGIST  171 

Financial  return 

A  SUCCESSFUL  dermatologist  earns  from  $3000  to  $5000  a  year. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  fine  intelligent  women  in  this  vocation  is 
very  great.  The  field  of  dermatology  needs  women  who  are 
conscientious  and  who  possess  a  high  character.  This  field  is 
glutted  with  incompetents  who  use  the  name  of  their  profes- 
sion to  flood  the  market  with  absolutely  worthless  prepara- 
tions and  mechanical  devices  which  are  often  injurious.  No 
thoroughly  competent  dermatologist  ever  massages  the  face 
except  with  the  human  hand. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  this  profession  are  many:  the  joy  of  help- 
ing mankind,  the  satisfaction  of  obtaining  successful  results, 
the  life  of  contact  with  many  people  which  eliminates  monot- 
ony, the  fast  renumeration  for  good  services  done. 

The  disadvantages  are  few.   The  hours  are  apt  to  be  very 
long  at  times  and  sometimes  one  has  very  difficult  patrons. 

Reading 

There  are  several  journals  published  dealing  with  derma- 
tology. Among  the  many  good  writers  on  the  subject  are 
the  following:  Darier;  Sutton;  Hyde;  Schamberg;  Pusey; 
Campbell;  Sequeira  and  J.  T.  Bowen.  Their  books  may  be 
obtained  at  any  medical  library. 

THE  DISTRICT  NURSE 

MARY  BEARD,  R.N. 

Instructor,  District  Nursing  Association,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

For  the  last  thirty  years  and  more  there  has  been  in  this 
country  a  body  of  community  health  visitors  known  as  "dis- 
trict nurses"  or  as  "visiting  nurses."   In  most  of  our  large 


172  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

cities  there  is  an  unoflScial  health  association,  known  as  the 
"Visiting  Nurse  Association"  or  the  "District  Nursing  As- 
sociation," the  purpose  of  which  is  to  shape  the  poUcies  gov- 
erning this  form  of  health  work  and  to  raise  the  budget  neces- 
sary to  maintain  it.  The  health  work  undertaken  by  these 
various  associations  differs  more  or  less  with  the  differing 
opinions  of  the  board  of  directors  in  one  or  another  city.  One 
of  the  oldest  of  these  associations  is  the  Instructive  District 
Nursing  Association  of  Boston.  Its  act  of  incorporation 
plainly  states  its  purpose,  "to  give  nursing  care  to  the  sick 
poor"  of  Boston.  Such  expressions  as  this  are  to  be  found  in 
the  early  reports  of  most  of  the  large  visiting  nurse  associa- 
tions. They  show,  first,  that  the  origin  of  such  work  was 
frankly  a  "charity";  and,  second,  that  the  preventive  work, 
which  was  done  by  the  nurses  in  the  early  days  of  visiting 
nurse  associations,  was  only  such  as  came  incidentally  to  the 
bedside  niu'se,  who  "  instructed  in  the  laws  of  wholesome  liv- 
ing" while  she  made  a  bed,  gave  a  bath,  and  carried  out  a 
doctor's  orders.  This  early  phase  of  public  health  nursing 
laid  a  valuable  foundation  for  the  work  of  to-day,  in  creating 
a  welcome  and  an  understanding  in  the  neighborhoods  where 
the  nurses  worked.  This  friendly  feeling  toward  the  nurse 
was  a  valuable  asset  to  the  modem  movement,  but  it  has 
taken  some  time  and  will  take  longer  still  to  efface  the  im- 
pression created  in  the  community,  that  all  visiting  nurses 
are  charity  workers,  and,  as  such,  not  acceptable  to  an  in- 
dependent public,  even  though  they  are  desirable  for  those 
neighbors  (constituting  fifty  per  cent  of  a  city  community) 
who  are  unable  to  pay  for  medical  care,  preventive  or  other- 
wise. 

When  in  the  year  1893  the  Henry  Street  nurses  began  their 
work  in  New  York  City,  an  important  step  in  the  progress  of 
public  health  nursing  was  taken  by  encouraging  the  payment 
of  a  small  fee  for  each  visit,  and  so  emphasizing  the  public 
service  rather  than  the  charity  aspect  of  visiting  nursing. 

A  community  service  for  which  any  one  may  pay  becomes 


THE  DISTRICT  NURSE  173 

very  popular  when  it  is  a  service  which  may  be  needed  at  any 
time  by  any  family  in  the  neighborhood.  There  have  been 
remarkable  results  due  to  the  home  nursing  performed  in  this 
way  imder  the  direction  of  visiting  nurses.  The  technical 
nursing,  performed  by  the  nurse  herself,  during  her  short 
stay  in  the  home,  is  of  comparatively  little  value  because 
after  her  visit  nursing  care  may  be  entirely  suspended  until 
she  comes  again.  Of  much  more  consequence  to  the  family  is 
the  ability  of  the  visiting  nurse  to  teach  the  elements  of  home 
nursing  to  some  member  of  it.  This  teaching  is  capable  of 
producing  good  results  in  recoveries  from  illness  and  in  pre- 
vention of  the  spread  of  disease.  It  has  been  a  matter  for  later 
experience  to  see  the  infinitely  greater  value  of  so  educating 
visiting  nurses  and  organizing  their  work  that  they  will 
undertake  the  systematic  health  teaching  which  means  pre- 
vention of  the  occurrence  of  disease,  the  correction  of  remedi- 
able defects,  and  the  avoidance  of  that  under-weight  and 
under-nourished  condition  so  often  observable  in  family  vis- 
iting. In  a  more  or  less  desultory  manner,  health  teaching  or 
preventive  nursing  accompanied  the  demonstrations  by 
means  of  which  home  nursing  was  taught.  Many  visiting 
nurses,  in  the  early  days,  taught  pre-natal  care  and  undoubt- 
edly did  much  valuable  preventive  work,  but  until  about  1900 
there  was  no  organized  attempt  to  bring  the  laws  of  preven- 
tive medicine  directly  into  homes  and  schools  and  industrial 
plants  through  the  agency  of  the  visiting  nurse. 

A  public  health  nurse  is  a  graduate  nurse  doing  any  form 
of  social  work  in  which  the  health  of  the  public  is  concerned, 
and  in  which  her  training  as  a  nurse  comes  into  play  and  is 
recognized  as  a  valuable  part  of  her  equipment.  The  first 
and  foremost  idea  in  her  mind  is  the  prevention  of  disease 
and  disaster,  whether  she  wears  the  garments  and  carries  the 
bag  of  the  district  or  visiting  nurse,  of  the  infant  welfare 
nurse,  of  the  school,  factory,  or  tuberculosis  nurse,  or  whether 
in  the  person  of  the  rural  nurse  she  combines  all  these  func- 
tions in  herself.   Sometimes  public  funds  are  drawn  upon  for 


174  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

her  salary;  sometimes  there  is  a  combination  of  public  and 
privately  contributed  money;  more  often,  perhaps,  private  so- 
cieties finance  the  work;  but  wherever  the  money  comes  from, 
whatever  is  the  form  of  visiting  nursing  done,  if  prevention  is 
the  foundation  idea  in  the  nurse's  work,  then  she  is  most  cer- 
tainly a  public  health  nurse. 

(1)  ^  An  infant  welfare  nurse  makes  systematic,  regularly 
timed  visits  to  babies  in  the  community,  keeping  a  watchful 
eye  on  their  progress,  ready  with  the  needed  advice  when 
they  fall  ill  with  colds,  croup,  bronchitis,  pneumonia,  or  con- 
tagious diseases.  During  the  trying  periods  of  teething  and 
weaning,  and  in  the  excessive  heat,  she  gives  constant  over- 
sight, and  is  always  urgent  that  the  mothers  seek  advice  from 
the  physician  before  illness  becomes  acute.  She  holds  weekly 
conferences  when  mothers  bring  their  little  ones  to  be  weighed 
and  examined  by  a  doctor,  and  helps  them  understand  his 
advice  about  feedings  and  simple  treatments.  She  visits  the 
children  under  school  age  whose  interests  are  too  often  lost 
sight  of  in  the  face  of  the  more  pressing  needs  of  the  little 
babies.  She  holds  mothers'  meetings  or  talks  to  mothers* 
clubs  about  the  care  and  feeding  of  children. 

(2)  The  school  nurse  assists  the  school  doctor  in  his  medi- 
cal inspection  of  the  children.  She  carries  home  his  advice  to 
the  parents  of  any  child  who  is  not  perfectly  well,  explains 
what  the  trouble  is  and  what  may  be  done  to  relieve  it.  She 
instructs  the  child  with  a  weak  back  in  those  exercises  which 
will  make  him  strong  and  straight.  She  helps  a  mother  plan 
the  right  dietary  for  an  under-nourished  child.  She  seeks  to 
remove  the  causes  of  eye-strain  and  headache  by  securing 
better  lighting  and  ventilation.  She  holds  frequent  inspec- 
tions of  the  children  to  discover  unclean  heads,  decayed  teeth, 
and  other  conditions  which  interfere  with  good  health,  good 
temper,  and  good  school  work.  She  teaches  the  children  to 
work  for  good  health  at  home  and  at  school. 

*  The  "Public  Health  Nurse";  pamphlet  issued  by  National  Organi- 
zation of  Public  Health  Nursing,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 


THE  DISTRICT  NURSE  175 

(3)  The  medical  social  service  nurse  forms  the  connecting 
link  between  the  hospital  or  dispensary  and  the  home.  She 
relieves  the  anxiety  of  both  the  family  and  the  patient  by 
frequent  visits.  By  following  patients  into  their  homes  after 
hospital  or  dispensary  treatment,  she  can  interpret  the  doc- 
tor's orders  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  best  results.  She 
is  often  able,  in  cooperation  with  other  social  workers,  to 
remedy  social  conditions  which  have  caused  the  illness  and 
would  prevent  convalescence  and  recovery. 

(4)  The  tuberculosis  nurse  assists  the  doctor  at  clinics,  to 
which  she  has  persuaded  suspected  cases  and  those  who  have 
been  exposed  to  the  diseases  to  come.  She  visits  clinic  pa- 
tients in  their  homes,  showing  the  families  how  to  carry  out 
the  doctor's  orders  for  the  care  of  the  patient,  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  rest  of  the  family.  She  gives  nursing  care  to 
those  who  are  confined  to  bed  while  she  is  making  arrange- 
ments for  their  removal  to  hospital  or  sanatorium.  She  seeks 
to  get  aid  for  those  unable  to  work;  in  short,  she  is  guide, 
philosopher,  and  friend  to  the  victims  of  this  most  dreaded 
and  most  universal  of  diseases,  and  endeavors  to  protect  the 
health  of  all  who  through  their  daily  contact  are  exposed  to  it. 

(5)  The  industrial  nurse  looks  after  the  health  of  the  work- 
ers in  a  factory,  store,  mine,  or  mill.  She  attends  to  the  little 
accidents  and  injuries  that  occur  during  the  day's  work,  and 
also  cooperates  with  the  employers  and  employees  in  seeking 
to  bring  about  the  best  lighting,  ventilation,  working  hours, 
meal  hours,  and  recreation  facilities.  She  seeks  to  have  a  good 
food  supply  provided  at  reasonable  prices.  She  visits  em- 
ployees and  gives  them  nursing  care  in  their  homes  when  they 
are  ill.  She  tries  to  bring  about  sanitary  living  conditions  and 
a  friendly  community  spirit. 

(6)  The  first  duty  of  the  district  or  visiting  nurse  is  the 
bedside  care  of  patients  in  their  homes,  and  the  instruction 
of  the  family  in  how  to  give  the  care  between  her  visits.  The 
teaching  of  health  habits  and  demonstration  of  how  health 
rules  may  be  carried  out  are  an  important  part  of  her  daily 


176  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

work  in  the  homes  of  her  patients.  She  goes  to  rich  and  poor 
alike,  caring  for  cases  only  when  there  is  a  doctor  in  attend- 
ance. 

Beside  the  actual  nursing  care  of  chronic  or  acutely  ill 
patients  and  her  educational  work,  she  may  carry  on  any  one 
or  all  of  the  specialized  public  health  nursing  activities  or 
cooperate  closely  with  other  nurses  in  the  commimity  who 
are  carrying  them  on. 

Preparation  necessary 

Various  post-graduate  courses  in  public  health  nursing, 
ranging  in  length  from  six  weeks  to  two  and  three  years,  are 
offered  throughout  the  country.  A  list  of  these  courses  may 
be  obtained  from  the  oflSce  of  the  National  Organization  for 
Public  Health  Nursing,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 
In  some  courses  students  in  the  third  year  of  their  hospital 
training  are  admitted  for  this  special  public  health  nursing 
training. 

Public  health  nursing  has  been  tremendously  stimulated 
during  the  last  few  years.  There  are  not  nearly  enough  grad- 
uates of  courses  in  public  health  niu'sing  to  fill  those  impor- 
tant positions  which  are  waiting  to  be  filled.  K  a  well-edu- 
cated woman  has  been  trained  as  a  nurse  and  has  taken  a 
course  in  public  health  nursing,  and  in  addition  to  that  has 
executive  ability,  she  could  be  placed  many  times  over  in  re- 
sponsible positions. 

Financial  return 

Public  health  nurses  who  are  doing  organizing  or  adminis- 
trative work  are  paid  salaries  which  range  from  $2500  to  $4000 
or  $5000.  Those  who  are  starting  and  who  have  their  experi- 
ence to  gain  receive  a  minimum  of  $1400. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Probably  the  most  important  qualification  for  a  public 

health  nurse  to  possess  is  a  liking  for  people.   She  must  be 


THE  DISTRICT  NURSE  177 

interested  in  the  study  of  humanity  for  its  own  sake  and  must 
find  all  people  a  perpetual  source  of  interest.  "  Public  health 
nursing  demands  the  application  of  business  principles,  but 
calls  for  infinitely  more  of  hope,  faith,  courage,  perseverance, 
and  understanding."  It  must  be  "All  things  to  all  people.** 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

To  a  person  who  has  this  natural  qualification  the  advan- 
tages of  the  life  are  great.  The  intimacy  of  the  relation  be- 
tween the  public  health  nurse  and  the  families  in  which  she 
works  is  very  delightful,  indeed.  She  will  be  out  of  doors  a 
great  deal  of  her  time,  because  as  she  is  a  visiting  nurse,  she 
does  not  stay  anywhere  for  more  than  an  hour  or  two  at  a 
time.  Her  mind  is  kept  constantly  alert  and  her  education 
progresses  continually,  because  in  doing  constructive  health 
work  in  families  one  comes  in  contact  with  all  the  great  social 
problems  of  the  ages  and  must  deal  with  those  many  highly 
developed  social  agencies  which  have  been  built  up  to  meet 
these  problems. 

Suggestive  reading 

Series  of  Public  Health  Nursing  Handbooks  edited  by  Miss 
Mary  Gardner,  published  by  the  Macmillan  Company: 

"Public  Health  Nursing"  —  Gardner. 

"Industrial  Nursing*'  —  Wright. 

"School  Nursing"  —  Kelly  and  Bradshaw. 

"Organization  of  Public  Health  Nursing"  —  Brainard. 

"Sanitation  for  Public  Health  Nurses"  —  Hill. 

The  "Public  Health  Nurse;"  pamphlet  issued  by  National 
Organization  of  Public  Health  Nursing,  156  Fifth  Ave- 
nue, New  York  City. 


178  CAKEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  OCCUPATIONAL  THERAPIST 

MAEJORIE  B.  GREENE 

Registrar,  Boston  School  of  Occupational  Therajry 

Description  of  occupation 

Occupational  therapy  is  one  of  the  new  professions  for 
young  women.  The  necessity  and  importance  of  this  work 
was  firmly  established  in  military  hospitals  dm-ing  the  late 
war  and  its  futm^  success  is  secure.  The  civilian  hospitals 
are  waiting  for  trained  workers,  and  we  believe  that  it  is  but 
a  short  time  before  every  hospital  and  institution  will  employ 
at  least  one  aide. 

The  training  is  designed  to  develop  not  only  artistic  and 
mechanical  skill  and  dexterity,  but  also  ability  to  cooperate 
with  every  branch  of  the  hospital  service  in  order  that  there 
may  result  the  highest  standard  of  efliciency.  This  latter 
ability  is  quite  as  important  as  the  former. 

Among  the  crafts  used  for  their  special  therapeutic  value 
are:  Applied  design,  basketry,  block  printing,  bookbinding, 
chair-seating,  jewelry,  leather  work,  modeling,  rug-making, 
textiles,  tin-can  work,  typewriting,  weaving,  wood-carving, 
woodwork  and  whittling.  Also  minor  curative  occupations; 
bead  work,  colonial  mats,  cord  work,  crocheting,  knitting, 
netting.  The  work  is  carried  on  in  hospital  wards  and  shops 
and,  when  possible,  with  private  cases. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

General  education,  equivalent  at  least  to  high-school  educa- 
tion. 

Previous  training  in  any  of  the  following  subjects  with  satis- 
factory credentials  will  be  credited  the  student  upon  entrance 
to  the  schools  of  Occupational  Therapy:  nursing,  social 
service,  physical  education,  mechanical  drawing,  psychology, 
arts  and  crafts. 

Training  may  be  secured  at  the  following  schools: 


THE  OCCUPATIONAL  THERAPIST  179 

Boston  School  of  Occupational  Therapy,  7  Harcourt  Street, 
Boston. 

Teachers  College,  Occupational  Therapy  Department,  New 
York  City. 

Flavell  School,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Philadelphia  School  of  Occupational  Therapy,  Philadel- 
phia. 

Downing  College,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 

School  of  Occupational  Therapy,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Qualifications  necessary  for  success 

Strong  physique,  understanding  of  human  nature,  common 

sense,  initiative  and  adaptabiUty. 

Financial  return 

Average,  from  $1200  to  $1800  per  year. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Occupational  therapists  are  in  demand  in  institutions  sucn 
as  State  hospitals,  private  hospitals.  Army  and  Navy  hospi- 
tals, dispensaries.  Government  public  health  departments, 
work  with  private  patients  both  in  hospitals  and  at  home. 
The  demand  for  well-trained  aides  far  exceeds  the  supply. 

Service  to  society 

To  restore  a  patient's  courage  and  his,  or  her,  maximum  men- 
tal, nervous,  and  physical  ability  is  to  add  an  asset  to  the  com- 
munity where  there  might  have  been  a  liability.  To  bring 
work  out  of  idleness  has  economic  value  in  time,  morality; 
production,  health,  and  happiness,  and  is  elevating  to  the 
individual  and  to  the  entire  world. 

Suggested  reading 

"Ward  Occupation  in  Hospitals,"  Bulletin  No.  25.  Issued  by 

Federal   Board   of   Vocational   Training,   Washington, 

D.C.,  1918. 


180  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Handicrafts  for  the  Handicapped"  —  Dr.  Herbert  J.  Hall. 
"The  Work  of  Our  Hands"  — Dr.  Herbert  J.  HaU. 
"Teaching  the  Sick"  —  George  Edward  Barton. 
"Invalid  Occupations"  —  Susan  Tracy. 


THE  OPTOMETRIST 

M.  DORIS  SWEETLAND 

Description  of  occupation 

According  to  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  Chapter  700,  Acts 
of  1912,  "The  practice  of  optometry  is  defined  to  be  the  em- 
ployment of  any  method  or  means  other  than  the  use  of  drugs 
for  the  measurement  of  the  powers  of  vision  and  the  adapta- 
tion of  lenses  for  the  aid  thereof." 

Actual  work  done 

It  is  very  essential  that  the  examination  should  be  a  syste- 
matic undertaking:  in  fact,  it  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  order 
that  nothing  may  be  overlooked.  First  record  what  is  known 
as  the  history  of  the  case.  This  consists  of  getting  the  neces- 
sary data,  such  as  name,  address,  age,  etc.  Two  methods  are 
usually  employed  in  a  complete  examination,  an  objective 
and  a  subjective  one.  The  objective  method  is  first  used  and  de- 
pends on  the  information  which  the  observer  is  able  to  gain 
from  an  examination  of  the  conditions  present  which  are  vis- 
ible or  appreciable  to  his  educated  senses.  The  eyeball  itself 
is  inspected  by  the  use  of  a  bright  light  to  make  sure  whether 
there  are  corneal  opacities  or  pathological  conditions  present. 
The  fundus  of  the  eye  is  viewed  with  an  instrument  called  the 
"opthalmoscope,"  to  detect  any  diseased  conditions  which 
might  be  present  and  yet  not  detected  externally.  The  lids 
are  noticed  as  to  whether  they  are  in  a  healthy  condition  or 
otherwise.  An  operator  cannot  be  too  careful  in  the  objective 
examination.  The  patient  may  be  questioned  regarding  any 
doubtful  findings,  and  once  in  a  while  the  observer  will  dis- 


THE  OPTOMETRIST  181 

cover  a  pathological  condition  of  which  the  patient  was  not 
aware,  such  as  kidney  diseases,  etc.  If  this  is  the  case,  the 
patient  should  be  referred  to  his  family  physician  upon  com- 
pletion of  the  refraction  of  the  eyes  by  the  optometrist. 

These  preliminaries  being  over,  the  operator  proceeds  with 
the  subjective  examination.  By  the  use  of  another  instrument, 
the  "retinoscope,"  the  observer  reflects  light  indirectly  into 
the  patient's  pupil  and  thereby  detects  by  motion  what  the 
refractive  condition  of  the  eye  actually  is;  that  is,  far-sighted 
(hyperopic),  etc.  Much  could  be  written  about  just  this  one 
subject  "Retinoscopy,"  but  space  will  not  permit.  However, 
suffice  it  to  say  that  a  skilled  operator  with  a  retinoscope  can 
refract  a  whole  case  by  just  the  use  of  this  instrument  com- 
bined with  lenses.  This  method  is  employed  in  testing  chil- 
dren and  illiterates. 

The  most  up-to-date  trial  frame  now  used  consists  of  an 
arrangement  of  lenses  on  rotating  disks  which  does  away  with 
the  cumbersome  trial  frame  hitherto  used.  This  instrument 
with  the  lenses  in  disks  is  termed  a  "phoro-optometer."  It 
is  arranged  so  that  the  muscles  of  the  eyes  may  also  be 
tested.  Different  distances  may  be  used  in  the  test,  allow- 
ances being  made  for  whatever  distance  is  decided  on.  A 
twenty-foot  distance  is  the  most  common  one  used  and  is 
accepted  as  the  standard.  The  patient  is  seated  in  a  chair 
twenty  feet  distant  from  the  test  type  which  consists  of  gradu- 
ated letters  made  on  the  sine  of  a  five-minute  angle.  Lenses 
are  placed  before  the  patient's  eyes  until  the  clearest  vision  is 
obtained.  After  this  is  ascertained,  the  muscles  of  the  eye  are 
carefully  tested  by  means  of  lights  in  combination  with 
prisms.  There  are  various  methods  of  testing  the  eyes,  but  all 
in  the  end  are  employed  to  give  the  patient  the  clearest  as  well 
as  the  most  comfortable  vision.  When  the  proper  lenses  have 
been  carefully  chosen,  the  optometrist  then  proceeds  to  meas- 
ure the  patient's  face  for  the  finished  eyeglasses  or  spectacles. 
Facial  fitting  in  itself  is  very  important,  as  often  the  most 
correct  prescription  is  spoiled  and  does  not  give  the  satisfac- 


182  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

tion  it  otherwise  would,  because  of  poor  adjustment  or  ill- 
fitting  frames  or  lenses.  It  will  pay  the  optometrist  either  to 
do  this  part  of  the  work  himself  or  at  least  superintend  it. 

After  the  measures  are  taken  for  the  size  of  the  lenses  and 
frame,  it  remains  for  the  work  to  be  finished.  The  mechanical 
department  of  an  optical  establishment  is  an  important  part  of 
the  work  also,  for  this  is  where  the  prescription  is  filled.  It  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  the  lenses  be  ground  just  as  ordered. 
Until  an  optometrist  has  a  large  enough  practice  to  hire  com- 
petent help,  it  will  mean  more  profit  to  do  the  mechanical 
work  one's  self.  It  is  optional,  however,  as  there  are  several 
reliable  wholesale  optical  prescription  houses  in  all  cities  who 
do  that  work. 

When  the  patient  comes  for  the  finished  article,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  optometrist  shall  know  how  to  adjust  the  glasses 
comfortably.  Also  the  patient  must  be  given  a  few  points  re- 
garding the  wearing  of  new  lenses.  It  is  important  to  impress 
the  customer  with  the  ability  of  the  optometrist,  not  by 
WORDS,  but  by  service  rendered. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  usual  requirements  necessary  to  enter  a  recognized 
optical  college  or  school  are  that  the  applicant  be  of  good 
moral  character  and  have  had  at  least  two  years'  high-school 
training  or  its  equivalent.  Different  States  have  their  own 
colleges  and  schools.  One  of  the  best-laiown  courses  in  the 
Eastern  colleges  is  the  optical  course  at  Columbia,  New  York 
City.  Also  the  University  of  Massachusetts,  Boston,  has  an 
excellent  course.  There  are  many  more  good  schools  which 
would  be  at  the  option  of  the  student.  Information  relative 
to  said  schools  may  be  had  in  any  State  by  applying  to  the 
State  Board  of  Registration  in  Optometry  in  the  State 
wished.   Send  inquiries  to  the  State  House. 

The  length  of  training  varies  in  different  schools  from  two  to 
four  years.  Night  courses  may  be  arranged  if  desired,  but  a 
day  course  is  preferable  unless  the  student  works  during  the 


THE  OPTOMETRIST  183 

day  in  an  optical  oflSce  or  store.  More  practical  experience  is 
gained  by  this  last  method. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

This  rests  entirely  with  the  optometrist.  In  order  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  times  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  constant  touch 
with  the  improvements  in  the  optical  profession  in  order  that 
the  patient  may  receive  the  best  service  possible.  Simply 
having  a  college  diploma  and  a  certificate  issued  by  the  State 
allowing  one  to  practice  optometry  means  very  little  in  com- 
parison with  what  it  is  necessary  to  know  in  order  to  satisfy 
prospective  patients.  In  this  line,  as  well  as  in  any  other,  new 
ideas  are  being  brought  forth  very  often  and  it  is  the  opto- 
metrist's duty  to  the  patient  to  keep  well  informed  along  this 
line. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  is  unlimited  and  depends  entirely  on  the 
personality  and  skill,  coupled  with  business  ability,  of  the 
optometrist.  An  average  yearly  business  for  an  optometrist 
either  alone  or  with  one  helper  is  between  $10,000  and  $12,000. 
Of  course  this  will  not  be  the  first  year,  as  at  that  time  the 
optometrist  is  becoming  known.  Perhaps  $7000  would  be  a 
minimum.  But,  as  I  have  said  before,  it  rests  entirely  with 
the  operator. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Natural  qualifications  would  be  a  good  conversationalist, 
a  neat  diesser,  a  good  "listener."  Also  one  must  be  tactful. 
I  believe  this  asset  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  any  pro- 
fession or  business. 

Acquired  qualifications  would  be  those  which  would  come 
by  experience.  A  skilled  operator  needs  time  to  bring  out  the 
best  qualities.  It  is  simply  a  repetition  of  the  old  adage, 
**  Practice  makes  perfect." 


184  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Advantages  , 

Optometry,  besides  being  a  clean  work,  rates  any  one  who 
pursues  it  as  a  specialist  in  a  particular  line  of  work.  It  brings 
one  in  contact  with  people  besides  benefiting  humanity  as  a 
whole.  Sometimes  an  optometrist  will  secure  the  schools  as 
a  whole  in  a  city,  and  receive  a  contract  to  test  the  children's 
eyes.   This  adds  prestige  to  the  optometrist's  name. 

Disadvantages 

I  HAVE  not  found  many  disadvantages  in  the  business,  as  the 
working  hours  may  be  determined  by  the  optometrist.  The 
public  will  soon  grow  accustomed  to  the  office  hours  chosen 
and  come  only  at  those  times.  In  fact,  in  the  better  optical 
establishments  examinations  are  made  by  appointment  only. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Different  States  have  different  numbers,  but  the  number 
of  registered  optometrists  in  Massachusetts  to-day  is  about 
nine  hundred.  Glasses  are  being  more  and  more  worn  as 
people  begin  to  recognize  the  importance  of  that  little  or- 
gan "  the  eye.'*  Consequently,  this  is  a  ripe  field  for  a  con- 
scientious worker.  Choose  a  city  where  the  field  is  not  over- 
crowded and  if  you  want  to  succeed  you  will. 

THE  OSTEOPATH 

DR.  EDITH  STOBO  CAVE 

Doctor  of  Osteopathy,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

Osteopathy  is  the  science  which  seeks  to  promote  the  integ- 
rity of  the  structure  of  the  body,  thereby  establishing  and 
maintaining  the  reign  of  natural  law.  For  it  is  the  basic  prin- 
ciple of  the  osteopathic  theory  that  "Structure  governs  func- 
tion." 
At  birth  the  spinal  colunm  is  straight,  all  the  tissues  are 


THE  OSTEOPATH  185 

soft  and  pliable,  and  as  yet  unadapted  to  their  life-work.  As 
the  child  grows,  it  passes  through  various  stages  of  attempted 
assumption  of  upright  posture,  until,  at  last,  standing  upon 
its  feet,  the  four  normal  curves  of  the  spine  begin  to  assert 
themselves.  The  anterior  curves  at  both  neck  and  waist  line 
aid  in  forming  the  pedestals  upon  which  to  carry  the  weight 
of  the  structures  above;  the  posterior  curves  from  the  shoul- 
der to  just  above  the  waist  line,  and  from  just  below  the  waist 
line  to  the  end  of  the  spine,  taken  together  with  the  anterior 
curving  of  the  chest  wall  and  abdomen,  form  two  roomy  com- 
partments in  which  the  various  organs  perform  their  func- 
tions. The  body  has  now  reached  its  perfect  alignment,  and 
this  perfection  of  both  alignment  and  function  —  for  they  go 
hand  in  hand  —  would  continue  throughout  life  were  it  not 
for  the  fact  that  the  integrity  of  structure  is  assailed  in  in- 
numerable ways  either  in  the  stress  of  life  or  by  accident. 

To  the  osteopathic  physician  come  the  bodies  that  have  lost 
in  varying  degrees  the  integrity  of  structural  alignment. 
Knowing  that  these  are  they  who  have  violated  the  natural 
law,  he  examines  the  spinal  column  to  ascertain  to  what  de- 
gree the  integrity  is  lost,  also  to  what  extent  reconstruction  is 
possible.  To  the  malalignment  is  applied  certain  scientific 
leverages  skillfully  calculated  to  bring  about  adjustment.  It 
is  possible  in  many  instances  to  restore  structure  and  function 
to  a  relatively  normal  degree;  but  there  are  cases  where  only 
partial  restoration  is  possible  owing  to  actual  changes  in  the 
character  of  the  tissues,  rendering  perfect  alignment  no  longer 
attainable. 

To  whatever  extent,  however,  alignment  may  be  made,  it  is 
absolutely  essential  that  the  physician  discover  the  possible 
habit-cause  of  the  deviation.  The  patient  must  then  be 
taught  to  cooperate  with  the  physician  in  perfecting  the  cure, 
otherwise  the  loss  of  structural  integrity  will  recur,  and  the 
result  be  temporarily  palliative  instead  of  permanently  cura- 
tive. Within  the  hands  of  the  skilled  osteopath  lies  greater 
power  than  is  realized  by  the  casual  observer.   He  is  able  to 


186  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and  to  restore  to  normal,  or  approxi- 
mately so,  the  various  functions  of  the  body,  making  it  im- 
possible for  the  elements  of  disease  to  remain.  The  human 
body  is  the  most  wonderful  mechanical  creation  in  existence, 
capable,  under  the  direction  of  the  mind,  of  performing  and 
regulating  its  own  functions  without  the  assistance  of  external 
agencies. 

Preparation  necessary 

To  any  who  may  wish  to  consider  entering  the  osteopathic 

profession  the  following  facts  may  be  of  interest : 

There  are  seven  osteopathic  colleges:  The  original  school, 
established  in  1892,  and  called  the  American  College  of  Oste- 
opathy, is  located  in  Kirksville,  Missouri,  where  it  was  founded 
by  Dr.  Andrew  Taylor  Still,  the  Father  of  Osteopathy.  The 
Massachusetts  College  is  located  in  Boston.  There  are  col- 
leges of  osteopathy  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Des  Moines, 
Kansas  City,  and  Los  Angeles. 

The  requirements  for  admission  are  a  high-school  education 
or  its  equivalent. 

The  tuition  is  $150  per  annum. 

The  length  of  the  course  is  four  years  of  ten  months  each. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  number  of  osteopathic  physicians  at  present  in  the  field 

is  estimated  at  about  seven  thousand. 

The  aggregate  number  of  students  in  the  schools  to-day  is 
about  one  thousand. 

Financial  return 

The  average  income,  approximately  estimated,  is  between 
$5000  and  $7000  per  annum.  Income  is  a  matter  of  personal- 
ity, ability,  and  locality. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  for  this  line  of  work  are  first  of  all  an  over- 
whelming desire  to  enter  this  particular  method  of  healing. 


THE  PRIVATE  NURSE  187 

One  must  truly  love  one's  work  in  order  to  meet  with  success. 
Then  there  must  be  unquestionable  health;  an  instinct  for 
mechanics;  a  love  for  detailed  and  intricate  study;  a  desire  to 
render  service  to  humanity  to  the  fullest  extent  of  one's  pow- 
ers; and  an  unswerving  allegiance  to  the  cause,  when  once  you 
have  enrolled  for  service.  To  the  one  best  adapted  for  this 
work,  it  is  not  the  income  that  brings  the  fullness  of  compen- 
sation, it  is  the  making  whole  of  those  who  are  sick  and  in 
despair. 

Woman  has  already  won  her  place  in  the  osteopathic  field 
of  service;  a  place  that  is  now  accorded  both  honor  and  respect. 
Her  physical  endurance,  her  mental  grasp,  her  mechanical 
instinct,  her  vision,  and  her  consecration  have  already  placed 
her  in  the  front  ranks.  To-day  it  is  estimated  that  about  forty 
per  cent  of  the  osteopathic  physicians,  and  of  the  student 
body,  are  women.  Just  as  in  other  professions,  certain  quali- 
fications are  essential  to  insure  success,  but  possessing  them, 
there  is  no  other  field  of  service  where  she  is  more  greatly 
needed,  or  where  she  may  render  more  acceptable  service. 


THE  PRIVATE  NURSE  -^  / 

SARA  E.  PARSONS 

Superintendent  of  Nurses,  Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  the  private  nurse  varies  from  going  into  the  home 
of  the  millionaire,  where  she  shares  every  luxury  and  has  serv- 
ants to  wait  upon  her,  to  the  home  of  people  in  moderate 
circumstances  who  do  their  own  work  and  find  the  expense  of 
sickness  almost  beyond  their  ability  to  meet. 

She  may  be  obliged  to  work  with  a  doctor  of  the  old  school, 
whose  methods  are  obsolete,  or  with  the  most  up-to-date  sci- 
entific physician.  The  work  may  be  full  of  interest  according 
to  the  character  of  the  case  and  the  type  of  people,  or  it  may 
be  the  reverse.  What  the  nurse  gets  out  of  her  work  depends 


188  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

largely  on  what  she  puts  into  it  and  on  her  own  attitude 
toward  it. 

In  many  cases  among  less  well-to-do  people  the  nurse  maj^ 
have  twenty-four  hour  duty.  Under  such  circumstances  she 
is  supposed  to  have  at  least  six  hours  for  sleep  and  an  hour  to 
get  out  in  the  fresh  air.  With  very  critical  cases  and  in  the 
families  of  wealthy  people  there  are  usually  two  nurses,  mak- 
ing twelve-hour  duty,  to  be  arranged  generally  between  the 
nurses  themselves. 

Preparation  necessary 

Training  schools  are  connected  with  all  well-known  hospitals 
and  a  few  with  universities.  Specific  information  may  be 
obtained  from  the  Headquarters,  National  Nursing  Associa- 
tion, 156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  excellent.  There  is 
plenty  of  room  at  the  top.  Nurses  are  now  required  as  heads 
of  and  instructors  in  health  departments  in  colleges. 

Financial  return 

The  remuneration  is  usually  $35  a  week,  sometimes  including 
laundry  when  it  is  convenient  for  the  family;  otherwise  the 
nurse  attends  to  it  herself.  There  are  nurses  who  work  along 
special  lines  who  charge  $40  a  week,  and  in  rare  instances  they 
have  been  paid  $50  a  week. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

For  this  field  a  person  needs  special  qualifications;  above  all 
things  she  must  have  a  pleasing  personality,  adaptability,  and 
tact.  She  also  needs  a  thorough,  all-around  preparation,  as  it 
is  impossible  to  tell  what  each  call  may  demand.  One  must 
also  have  executive  ability.  Training  in  a  well-established 
school  is  necessary. 


THE  PRIVATE  NURSE  189 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  private  work  are  the  opportunities  for 
meeting  many  types  of  people,  travel,  and  in  some  instances 
pleasant  personal  relationships.  There  are  many  nurses  who 
have  become,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  members  of  the 
family,  and  have  stayed  with  their  patient  and  the  family  for 
many  years.  There  is  also  the  opportunity  to  take  part  in 
helping  in  the  evolution  of  an  interesting  and  necessary  pro- 
fession.  The  work  offers  an  opportunity  for  social  service. 

The  disadvantages  of  private  work  are  the  difficulties  of 
obtaining  time  for  one*s  self,  of  making  social  engagements, 
the  danger  of  developing  extravagant  tastes,  and  of  becoming 
dissatisfied  with  a  reasonable  mode  of  living.  Also,  private 
nurses  are  apt  to  fall  behind  in  their  professional  knowledge 
on  account  of  following  one  line  of  work  too  long,  and  because 
of  the  difficulties  of  attending  nurses*  conventions  and  keeping 
up  with  nursing  progress. 

Extent  of  occupation 

We  have  about  forty  thousand  registered  nurses  in  this  coun- 
try. Through  the  Red  Cross  at  the  present  time  we  have  in- 
ternational activities  organizing  hospitals,  training  schools, 
and  public  health  work. 

Reading 

"Opportunities  in  the  Field  of  Nursing." 

"Standard  Curriculum." 

"American  Journal  of  Nursing." 

"The  Hospital  as  a  Social  Agent"  —  Cablin. 

"History  of  Nursing"  —  Nutting  and  Robb. 

"Nursing  Problems  and  Obligations"  —  Parsons. 


190  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  NURSE 

BESSIE  AMERMAN  HAASIS,  R.N. 

Educational  Secretary,  National  Organization  for  Public  Health  Nursing 

Public  health  nursing 

A  PUBLIC  health  nurse  is  "a  graduate  nurse  doing  any  form  of 
social  work  in  which  the  health  of  the  public  is  concerned,  and 
in  which  her  training  as  a  nurse  comes  into  play  and  is  recog- 
nized as  a  valuable  part  of  her  equipmemt." 

The  public  health  nurse  may  specialize  in  various  fields, 
such  as  school  nursing,  industrial  nursing,  pre-natal  and  ma- 
ternity care,  infant  and  child  welfare,  the  care  of  the  tubercu- 
lous, venereal  disease  control,  mental  hygiene,  and  medical 
social  service,  or  she  may  combine  these  f  imctions  in  general 
service  to  the  community.  She  is  both  nurse  and  teacher. 
She  is  the  interpreter  between  the  scientist  in  his  laboratory 
and  the  health-needing  millions  whom  he  serves.  She  has  be- 
come an  indispensable  instrument  of  practically  every  modem 
health  movement. 

Visiting  nursing 

The  first  duty  of  the  district  or  visiting  nurse  is  the  bedside 
care  of  patients  in  their  homes,  and  the  instruction  of  the  fam- 
ily in  how  to  give  the  care  between  her  visits.  The  teaching 
of  health  habits  and  demonstration  of  how  health  rules  may 
be  carried  out  are  an  important  part  of  her  daily  work  in  the 
homes  of  her  patients.  She  goes  to  rich  and  poor  alike,  caring 
for  cases  only  when  there  is  a  doctor  in  attendance. 

Beside  the  actual  nursing  care  of  chronic  or  acutely  ill 
patients  and  her  educational  work,  she  may  carry  on  any  one 
or  all  of  the  specialized  public  health  nursing  activities  or 
cooperate  closely  with  other  nurses  in  the  community  who 
are  carrying  them  on. 

Pre-natal  nursing  and  child  welfare 

Pre-natal  nursing  includes  the  instruction  and  oversight 

of  mothers  from  the  earliest  days  of  pregnancy,  in  the  care 


THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  NURSE  191 

of  themselves  and  preparation  for  the  baby;  arrangement  for 
proper  care  during  confinement  and  subsequent  oversight  of 
mother  and  child.  Such  work  is  a  most  potent  factor  in  re- 
ducing infant  mortality. 

An  infant  welfare  nurse  makes  systematic,  regularly  timed 
visits  to  babies  in  the  community,  keeping  a  watchful  eye  on 
their  progress,  ready  with  the  needed  advice  when  they  fall 
ill  with  colds,  croup,  bronchitis,  pneumonia,  or  contagious 
diseases.  During  the  trying  periods  of  teething  and  weaning, 
and  in  the  excessive  heat,  she  gives  constant  oversight  and  is 
always  urgent  that  the  mothers  seek  advice  from  the  physi- 
cian before  illness  becomes  acute.  She  holds  weekly  confer- 
ences when  mothers  bring  their  little  ones  to  be  weighed  and 
examined  by  a  doctor,  and  helps  them  understand  his  advice 
about  feedings  and  simple  treatments.  She  holds  mothers' 
meetings  or  talks  to  mothers*  clubs  about  the  care  and  feed- 
ing of  children. 

She  visits  the  children  under  school  age  whose  interests  are 
too  often  lost  sight  of  in  the  face  of  the  more  pressing  needs  of 
the  little  babies.  Between  the  ages  of  two  and  five,  bones  are 
soft  and  easily  bent,  delicate  stomachs  are  subjected  too  often 
to  the  diet  of  adults,  and  indigestion  develops  which  paves 
the  way  for  far  more  serious  disturbances  later  in  life.  Failure 
to  care  for  the  first  teeth  causes  decay,  resulting  in  increased 
liability  to  infectious  disease,  poor  second  teeth,  and  impaired 
digestion.  Children  are  most  susceptible  and  most  exposed 
to  the  communicable  diseases  and  the  complications  of  the 
communicable  diseases,  such  as  pneumonia,  weak  hearts,  kid- 
ney trouble,  deafness,  impaired  vision,  and  tuberculosis;  all 
these  take  their  toll  of  child  life  and  vigor  to  a  large  extent 
before  children  reach  school  age.         ' 

School  nursing 

The  school  nurse  assists  the  school  doctor  in  his  medical  in- 
spection of  the  children.  She  carries  home  his  advice  to  the 
parents  of  any  child  who  is  not  perfectly  w^ll,  explains  what 


192  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  trouble  is  and  what  may  be  done  to  relieve  it.  She  in- 
structs the  child  with  a  weak  back  in  those  exercises  which 
will  make  him  strong  and  straight.  She  helps  a  mother  plan 
the  right  dietary  for  an  under-nourished  child.  She  seeks  to 
remove  the  causes  of  eye-strain  and  headache  by  securing 
better  lighting  and  ventilation.  She  holds  frequent  inspec- 
tions of  the  children  to  discover  unclean  heads,  decayed  teeth, 
and  other  conditions  which  interfere  with  good  health,  good 
temper,  and  good  school  work.  She  teaches  the  children  to 
work  for  good  health  at  home  and  at  school. 

Medical  social  service 

The  medical  social  service  nurse  forms  the  connecting  link 
between  the  hospital  or  dispensary  and  the  home.  She  re- 
lieves the  anxiety  of  both  the  family  and  the  patient  by  fre- 
quent visits.  By  following  patients  into  their  homes  after 
hospital  or  dispensary  treatment,  she  can  interpret  the  doc- 
tor's orders  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  best  results.  She  is 
often  able,  in  cooperation  with  other  social  workers,  to  rem- 
edy social  conditions  which  have  caused  the  illness  and  would 
prevent  convalescence  and  recovery. 

Tuberculosis  nursing 

The  tuberculosis  nurse  assists  the  doctor  at  clinics,  to  which 
she  has  persuaded  suspected  cases  and  those  who  have  been 
exposed  to  the  disease  to  come.  She  visits  clinic  patients  in 
their  homes,  showing  the  families  how  to  carry  out  the  doc- 
tor's orders  for  the  care  of  the  patient,  and  the  protection  of 
the  rest  of  the  family.  She  gives  nursing  care  to  those  who 
are  confined  to  bed  while  she  is  making  arrangements  for 
their  removal  to  a  hospital  or  a  sanatorium.  She  follows  up 
these  patients  after  their  return  to  prevent  a  possible  break- 
down, endeavors  to  protect  the  health  of  all  who  through 
their  daily  contact  are  exposed  to  the  disease.  Her  work  is 
educational  and  she  must  be  connected  with  all  communal 
activities. 


THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  NURSE  ■  193 

Industrial  nursing 

The  industrial  nurse  looks  after  the  health  of  the  workers  in 
a  factory,  store,  mine,  or  mill.  She  attends,  under  direction 
of  the  physician  attending  the  plant,  to  the  minor  accidents 
and  injuries  that  occur  during  the  day's  work,  and  also  co- 
operates with  the  employers  and  employees  in  seeking  to 
bring  about  the  best  lighting,  ventilation,  working  hours, 
meal  hours,  and  recreation  facilities.  She  seeks  to  have  a 
good  food  supply  provided  at  reasonable  prices.  She  visits 
employees  and  gives  them  nursing  care  in  their  homes  when 
they  are  ill.  She  tries  to  bring  about  sanitary  living  condi- 
tions and  a  friendly  community  spirit. 

Mental  hygiene  nursing 

The  public  health  nurse,  because  of  her  intimate  contact 
with  the  people  —  with  the  families  in  their  homes,  the 
children  in  the  schools,  the  normal  and  the  abnormal  —  can 
serve  most  effectively  in  bringing  about  a  better  popular 
understanding  of  mental  disease,  particularly  if  she  has  had 
special  training.  The  fact  that  she  is  a  nurse  simplifies  her 
approach  to  the  mental  patient  and  his  family,  helping  them 
to  understand  that  abnormal  mental  states  are  as  truly  dis- 
ease as  any  other  form  of  illness  and  assisting  them  to  secure 
proper  medical  attention.  By  recognizing  early  symptoms 
she  can  urge  preventive  treatment  and  sometimes  entirely 
avert  the  actual  mental  break-down  of  a  patient. 

The  physician  in  the  psychiatric  clinic,  in  most  instances, 
has  to  rely  entirely  upon  her  for  his  knowledge  of  the  family 
and  environmental  history  of  the  patient  —  information  diffi- 
cult to  obtain,  and  especially  important  in  this  form  of  dis- 
ease as  well  as  for  the  actual  working-out  of  those  adjustments 
with  home  and  friends  which  will  make  it  possible  for  the 
patient  to  remain  or  return  there. 

Special  personal  qualifications 

In  all  forms  of  public  health  nursing  the  personality  of  the  in- 
dividual is  the  most  important,  in  fact  the  determining  factor. 


194  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

The  nurse  has  a  wonderful  opportunity  to  teach  because  the 
very  nature  of  her  work  establishes  a  feeling  of  friendliness 
and  receptivity  on  the  part  of  the  family  she  is  helping.  She 
enters  a  home  when  there  is  trouble  there,  with  earnest  desire 
to  serve.  She  must  be  adaptable,  for  she  meets  a  wide  variety 
of  people,  working,  as  she  does,  in  constant  and  intimate  con- 
tact with  practically  all  other  social  welfare  agencies.  She 
will  learn  something  from  each  family  or  household  to  apply 
to  her  futiu*e  work  and  must  be  ready  to  look  to  the  results  of 
other  people's  work  for  guidance.  She  must  be  tactful,  pa- 
tient, tolerant,  and  conscientious  in  keeping  accurate  records 
of  her  work.  She  must  be  ready  to  cooperate  and  know  how 
to  get  along  with  other  workers. 

How  to  become  a  jmhlic  health  nurse 

The  usual  hospital  course  of  two  or  three  years  does  not  fit  a 
nurse  to  meet  the  family  and  community  problems  which  con- 
stitute a  large  part  of  her  daily  responsibility  in  public  health 
work  nor  does  it  supply  the  requisite  knowledge  of  how  to 
do  practical  work  without  the  apparatus  to  which  she  has 
been  accustomed.  In  addition  to  her  hospital  training,  a 
nurse  must  have  some  knowledge  of  health  administration 
and  of  social  service.  A  post-graduate  course  will  add  a  great 
deal  to  her  probably  meager  knowledge  of  conununicable  dis- 
eases and  the  practice  of  preventive  medicine  with  its  prob- 
lems of  housing,  sanitation,  etc. 

A  growing  number  of  universities  and  other  educational 
institutions  in  the  various  States  offer  four  months'  courses 
as  well  as  longe^  courses  of  eight  months,  both  combining 
theoretical  instruction  with  field  work  under  the  direction  of 
pubHc  health  nursing  associations.  Tuition  varies  from  $225 
down  to  no  charge  at  all.  Hospital  training  schools  are  realiz- 
ing the  importance  of  this  new  field  of  work  and  many  now 
include  in  their  curricula  experience  in  public  health  nursing. 
Scholarships  are  available  in  many  schools.  Information  rel- 
ative to  scholarships  and  post-graduate  courses  can  be  ob- 


THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  NURSE  195 

tained  from  the  National  Organization  for  Public  Health 
Nursing,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Financial  return 

The  public  health  nurse  is  not  expected  to  give  philanthropi- 
cally  of  her  time  and  energy.  She  is  a  specially  trained  worker 
who  is  very  definitely  worthy  of  her  hire.  At  present  the  min- 
imum salary  for  a  fully  qualified  public  health  nurse  is  $1200 
a  year;  higher  salaries  are  paid  in  many  localities  and  the 
trend  is  unquestionably  upward.  The  public  health  nurse 
observes  the  eight-hour  day;  she  has  a  month's  vacation  in 
the  summer;  she  has  her  own  home,  and  in  general  lives  a 
more  independent  life  than  the  private  duty  nurse.  Finally, 
she  has  excellent  opportunities  of  advancement  to  important 
executive  positions,  the  number  of  which  is  being  constantly 
increased  by  the  rapid  advance  of  the  public  health  move- 
ment all  over  the  country.  Such  positions  require  a  good  edu- 
cational background;  for  college-trained  women  particularly 
the  opportunities  are  excellent. 

Demand 

The  Occupational  Bureau  of  the  National  Organization  for 
Public  Health  Nursing  reports  that  it  has  been  asked  to  fill 
ten  times  as  many  positions  as  it  has  applicants.  State  after 
State  has  passed  either  mandatory  or  permissive  laws  pro- 
viding for  the  employment  of  public  health  nurses  from  pub- 
lic funds.  Legislation  now  pending  at  Washington  provides 
for  a  complete  reorganization  of  the  public  health  administra- 
tion under  a  Secretary  of  Health  and  will  probably  include  a 
Bureau  of  Public  Health  Nursing.  » 

It  is  estimated  that  50,000  public  health  nurses  are  required 
by  Federal  and  State  legislation  passed  or  pending,  whereas 
there  are  now  scarcely  8000  in  the  entire  country. 

Suggested  reading 

"Public  Health  Nursing" —  Mary  S.  Gardner.    The  Mac- 
millan  Company,  New  York  City. 


196  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"The  House  on  Henry  Street"  — Lillian  D.  Wald.    Henry 
Holt  &  Co.,  New  York  City. 

"The  Tuberculosis    Nurse"  — Ellen  N.  La  Motte.    G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  New  York  City. 

"Trudeau"  —  An  Autobiography.    Lea  &  Fobiger,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

"Industrial  Nursing'*  —  Florence  S.  Wright.   The  Macmil- 
lan  Company,  New  York  City. 

"History  of  Nursing  "  —  Vol.  iii.  Lavinia  L.  Dock.  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  New  York  City. 
The  library  Department  of  the  National  Organization  for 

Public  Health  Nursing,  156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City, 

will  supply,  on  request,  lists  of  pamphlets  and  reprints  and 

give  other  general  information. 

THE  WOMAN  DENTIST 

ANNE  S.  WORTHEN,  D.M.D. 

Description  of  occupation 

Dentistry  is  that  branch  of  the  medical  profession  which 
devotes  itself  to  the  care  of  the  mouth  and  particularly  the 
teeth.  In  its  field  comes,  first,  care  for  the  prevention  of  dental 
disease,  then  treatment  to  check  and  repair  dental  disease, 
and  next  mechanical  replacement  of  dental  organs  which 
have  been  lost  through  lack  of  success  in  prevention  or  repair, 
or  by  accident.  At  the  present  time  it  is  subdivided  into  many 
special  branches  requiring  special  study  and  research. 

In  general  practice  the  dentist  must  be  prepared  to  inter- 
pret symptoms  and  decide  treatment  necessary.  The  work 
is  divided  into  mechanical  and  operative  work. 

The  mechanical  work  consists  of  making  artificial  substi- 
tutes, such  as  full  or  partial  dentures,  crowns  and  bridges,  and 
appliances  for  regulating.  This  work  is  done  in  the  laboratory 
and  requires  a  natural  mechanical  ability  and  manual  dex- 
terity. It  is  dirty  work,  but  interesting  for  one  of  mechanical 
taste. 


THE  WOMAN  DENTIST  197 

The  operative  work  is  the  work  done  upon  the  patient  and 
includes  cleaning  the  teeth,  preparing  cavities  in  teeth  and 
refilling  them  with  the  different  kinds  of  filling  materials,  each 
of  which  requires  a  different  technique;  the  treating  of  dis- 
eased teeth,  extraction  of  teeth,  and  preparation  of  teeth  for 
various  mechanical  substitutes,  and  correction  of  irregular- 
ities of  teeth. 

Preparation  necessary 

Preparation  for  the  practice  of  dentistry  requires  four  years 
of  training  in  a  recognized  dental  college,  such  as  Tufts  Dental 
School,  Philadelphia  Dental  School,  and  Dental  Departments 
of  many  of  the  State  universities. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  lies  with  the  individual. 
There  is  always  more  dental  work  needing  to  be  done  than 
there  are  hands  to  do  it,  and  for  the  conscientious  worker,  pre- 
pared for  the  work,  there  will  always  be  a  demand  for  her 
services. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  varies  with  the  locality  in  which  one 
settles,  but  the  earnest  worker  may  feel  assiu-ed  of  earning  a 
good  living  in  a  very  interesting  life.  Two  thousand  dollars  a 
year  is  an  average  minimum. 

Qualifications  for  success 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  a  successful  dentist  are  me- 
chanical ability  with  manual  dexterity,  an  interest  in  sciences 
which  help  to  interpret  cause  and  effect  in  health  and  disease, 
and  a  personality  which  leads  to  adaptability  to  people. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  offers  a  pleasant  intercourse  with  people  which 

makes  life  broad  and  interesting.    It  gives  opportunity  to 


198  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

help  and  relieve  suffering,  and  to  teach  the  message  of 
prevention  of  disease.  There  is  always  more  to  leam  and 
strive  for.  It  is  a  broad  field  for  service  and  brings  a  true 
reward. 

Its  disadvantages  arise  from  the  close  confinement  in  an 
office,  working  closely  over  people's  mouths,  and  often  main- 
taining cramped  positions  which  result  in  physical  strain. 
There  is  a  hard  nervous  strain  due  to  the  nervousness  of 
patients  under  dental  operation  and  to  the  fineness  of  the 
work. 

The  hours  are  possible  to  regulate  in  a  measure  to  one's 
needs,  although  when  patients  put  themselves  in  the  dentist's 
care  a  responsibility  is  assumed  to  them  which  sometimes  de- 
mands extra  hours. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  proportion  of  women  in  the  profession  is  small,  but  each 
year  sees  greater  numbers  taking  up  the  work  and  they  are 
making  a  success.  If  one  is  earnestly  looking  for  a  work  worth 
doing,  one  cannot  do  better  than  to  investigate  the  profession 
of  dentistry. 

THE  WOMAN  SURGEON 
DR.  ELLEN  C.  POTTER 

State  Department  of  Health,  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania 

Description  of  occupation 

The  woman  surgeon  is  not  a  creature  of  the  imagination  as 
she  was  seventy  years  ago,  but  is  a  reality.  Her  function  is 
similar  to  that  of  her  male  colleague,  but  because  of  certain 
limitations  in  opportunity  her  spheres  of  influence  and  opera- 
tion are  somewhat  more  restricted. 

She  is  a  most  successful  laryngologist  operating  upon  ton- 
sils, adenoids,  the  nasal  septum,  ear,  and  mastoid  with  skill 
equal  to  that  of  male  associates.   As  an  ophthalmologist  her 


THE  WOMAN  SURGEON  199 

surgical  work  upon  the  eye  is  deft  and  quite  as  successful  as 
that  of  her  brother  surgeon,  but  the  woman  ophthalmologist 
is  relatively  less  numerous  than  is  the  male. 

Her  great  field  of  service,  however,  lies  in  gynaecological 
surgery,  both  major  and  minor,  and  her  greatest  success  is  to 
be  found  in  the  relief  of  surgical  conditions  peculiar  to  women. 
This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  her  opportunities 
for  acquiring  experience  are  greater  in  this  field  than  in  any 
other,  for  many  women,  forced  to  contemplate  an  operation 
upon  the  pelvic  organs,  and  especially  plastic  work  about  the 
external  genitalia,  will  if  given  the  choice  select  the  woman 
operator  because  of  a  sense  of  modesty. 

In  the  field  of  major  general  surgery  the  opportunities  for 
women  to  acquire  experience  are  very  limited  and  in  conse- 
quence there  are  but  few  general  surgeons  among  them. 
Where  equal  opportunities  are  available  there  is  no  reason, 
inherent  in  sex,  which  should  bar  women  from  this  branch. 
Minor  surgery,  however,  offers  many  opportunities  and 
women  are  most  acceptable  and  efficient  in  this  field. 

Obstetrical  siu*gery  finds  many  women  most  skillful  in  both 
major  and  minor  procedure,  the  Caesarian  section,  the  appli- 
cation of  high  and  low  forceps,  and  plastic  operations  being 
particularly  adapted  to  them,  the  smaller  size  of  the  female 
hand  conferring  a  distinct  advantage  in  much  of  this  work. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  for  surgical  work  whether  for  man  or  woman 
is  rigorous.  It  is  founded  upon  a  standard  four  years'  high- 
school  course,  followed  by  not  less  than  two  academic  years 
of  training  which  must  include  certain  specified  units  of 
physics,  chemistry,  biology,  and  a  modem  language  other 
than  English.  In  addition,  if  time  permits,  a  grounding  in 
psychology,  sociology,  and  economics  will  prove  of  great 
advantage. 

Subsequent  to  this  preliminary  preparation  there  follow 
four  years  in  a  medical  school,  which  school  should  be  selected 


^00  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

after  careful  study  of  "Getting  a  Right  Start,"  a  publication 
issued  by  the  Coimcil  on  Medical  Education  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  535  North  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Briefly  no  one  should  select  a  medical  school  which  is  not 
listed  in  "class  A"  of  the  Council  on  Medical  Education. 

Of  the  "class  A"  schools  sixty  are  coeducational  and  one 
is  exclusively  for  women,  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Following  graduation  from  medical  school  not  less  than  one 
year,  preferably  two,  should  be  spent  as  an  interne  in  a  gen- 
eral hospital,  which  provides  contact  with  a  great  variety  of 
patients  and  which  gives  not  only  preliminary  surgical  ex- 
perience, but  a  thorough  training  in  medical  diagnosis  and 
treatment,  for  without  such  preparation  one  is  not  justified  in 
the  thought  of  entering  upon  a  surgical  career. 

The  intemeship  having  been  completed  the  newly  fledged 
doctor  should  seek  aflSliation  with  a  surgeon  of  reputation 
and  in  private  and  ward  service  and  under  the  direction  of 
the  chief  should  gradually  develop  that  surgical  technique 
which  makes  for  success. 

This  period  of  training  covers  many  years,  seldom  less  than 
five,  often  for  a  longer  period.  However,  diu*ing  that  period 
the  assistant  surgeon  is  not  only  acquiring  experience,  but 
building  up  a  clientele. 

Except  in  the  larger  cities,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, and  Chicago,  the  opportunity  for  apprenticeship  and 
ultimate  advancement  in  surgery  is  not  great.  In  the  cities 
named,  medical  women  are  well  established,  are  in  control  of 
one  or  more  hospitals  in  each  city,  and  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
Woman's  Medical  College  and  Hospital  the  opportunity  for 
advancement  up  to  full  professorial  positions  in  the  surgical 
branches,  as  well  as  in  all  others,  is  possible. 

Women  seeking  surgical  apprenticeship  under  men  must 
as  a  very  general  rule  continue  to  occupy  subordinate  posi- 
tions. 


THE  WOMAN  SURGEON  201 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  to  the  successful  woman  surgeon  are  as 
great  as  they  are  to  her  brother.  It  is  difficult  to  state  exactly 
the  average  income,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  successful 
woman  surgeon  does  not  receive  less  than  $10,000  annually. 
The  woman  who  combines  surgical  work  with  general  prac- 
tice will  certainly  secure  an  income  well  in  excess  of  $5000. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  which  make  for  success  are  those  which 
insure  success  in  other  fields.  Capacity  for  hard  and  continu- 
ous work;  infinite  attention  to  detail;  ability  to  assume  and 
sustain  responsibility;  ability  to  make  quick  decisions  and  to 
act  upon  them;  optimism;  a  sense  of  humor  —  all  contribute 
to  success. 

In  addition  there  must  be  a  healthy  body  which  can  stand 
the  burden  of  work  placed  upon  it,  there  must  be  mental  and 
emotional  poise  with  '*  steady  nerves,"  and  there  must  be  no 
tendency  to  skin  eruptions. 

The  successful  surgeon  must  acquire  a  thorough  grounding 
in  medical  diagnosis  and  treatment,  otherwise  surgical  com- 
plications as  they  arise  cannot  be  successfully  met.  Manual 
dexterity  is  absolutely  indispensable  and  can  be  acquired 
only  as  a  result  of  infinite  patience  and  practice. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  to  the  individual  taking  up  surgical  practice 
are  largely  those  of  character  development  to  be  found  in  the 
attempt  to  bring  a  difficult  undertaking  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion. 

The  personal  contact  with  patients  is  not  that  which  ob- 
tained with  the  old  family  doctor  whose  patients  became 
really  members  of  his  own  family,  and  to  that  extent  the 
surgeon  misses  much  in  human  relationships.  The  prolonged 
hours  in  the  operating-room  in  the  midst  of  ether  fumes  has 
its  great  disadvantages,  but  the  compensation  is  to  be  found 


202  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

in  the  moment  when  one  is  assm*ed  that  by  the  work  of  one's 
own  hands  a  life  has  been  saved. 

Extent  of  occupation 

It  is  impossible  to  state  the  number  of  women  devoting  them- 
selves exclusively  to  surgical  practice.  They  cannot  be  num- 
bered by  hundreds,  possibly  not  by  scores.  Most  of  those 
who  are  specializing  in  surgery  are  also  combining  at  least 
an  amount  of  general  medical  practice. 

In  the  smaller  cities,  of  20,000  or  under,  the  woman  who 
has  acquired  surgical  experience  and  who  can  secure  an  open- 
ing in  a  local  hospital  is  assured  of  success. 

The  demand  for  the  woman  doctor  is  far  greater  in  obstet- 
rics, in  diseases  of  women,  and  in  public  health  work  than 
it  is  in  the  surgical  field  and  the  opportunity  for  her  along 
these  lines  is  without  limit. 

There  is  without  doubt  to-day  a  greater  need  for  women 
in  medicine  than  in  any  other  profession.  Only  ninety-four 
women  graduated  from  the  medical  schools  of  the  United 
States  last  year.  The  deans  of  medical  schools  report  de- 
mands for  medical  women  in  educational  institutions,  in- 
dustrial plants,  public  health  work,  and  in  hospitals,  demands 
by  the  hundred,  and  no  candidates  available  to  fill  these 
posts. 

A  woman  looking  for  an  opportunity  for  great  social  service 
and  for  adequate  compensation  will  find  it  in  the  many  phases 
of  medical  practice. 


WOMEN  IN  MEDICINE 

ELIZABETH  A.  RILEY,  M.D. 

Description  of  occupation 

The  practice  of  medicine  as  a  vocation  for  women  is  consid- 
ered by  the  majority  of  the  laity  as  an  innovation  of  recent 
years.   They  recognize  that  man  has  labored  in  the  medical 


WOMEN  IN  MEDICINE  208 

field  since  the  days  of  Hippocrates,  460  B.C.,  but  are  under  the 
erroneous  impression  that  it  is  within  the  past  seventy  years 
that  woman  has  worked  along  the  same  lines. 

The  truth  is  that  ever  since  Hygeia,  the  daughter  of  ^scu- 
lapius,  was  associated  with  her  father  and  presided  over  his 
temple  that  was  devoted  to  the  sick  at  Epidaurus,  women 
have  never  been  wholly  debarred  from  the  profession;  al- 
though in  many  countries  and  at  various  times  much  has  been 
done,  through  prejudice,  to  exclude  them  from  study  and 
practice. 

Of  all  the  countries,  Italy  has  been  most  progressive  in 
recognizing  the  value  of  women  in  medical  work.  Other 
countries  have  had  able  and  enthusiastic  women  struggling  for 
recognition  in  the  profession,  and  many  have  earned  dis- 
tinction, but  Italy  stands  foremost  in  its  liberal  consciousness 
in  recognizing  ability  apart  from  sex. 

Although  the  Italian  universities  were  never  closed  to 
women,  the  Italian  Government,  recognizing  them  as  a  na- 
tional asset,  in  1876  decreed  that  all  universities  should  be 
formally  opened  to  them. 

The  Countess  of  Cinchona,  a  medical  woman,  wife  of  the 
Viceroy  of  Peru,  introduced,  in  1640,  quinine  for  the  treat- 
ment of  malaria.  A  Swiss  woman,  Madame  de  Hilden,  was 
the  first  to  remove  a  piece  of  steel  from  the  eye  by  a  magnet. 
She  also  planned  many  other  operations  in  which  her  tech- 
nique is  followed  to-day.  She  assisted,  advised,  and  finally 
replaced  her  husband  in  his  surgical  work. 

Madame  Curie,  in  our  own  period,  has  given  to  the  profes- 
sion, through  her  discovery  of  radium,  one  of  its  greatest 
adjuncts.  Each  year  thousands  of  patients  are  treated  and 
cured  of  cancer  as  the  result  of  her  work. 

In  our  own  country  the  medical  history  of  women  begins 
with  a  tragedy.  It  is  recorded  that  the  first  person  to  be 
executed,  in  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  was  one  Mar- 
garet Jones,  a  female  physician,  accused  of  witchcraft. 

There  were  no  medical  schools  or  medical  societies  in  the 


204  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Colonies  until  just  prior  to  the  Revolution.  Women  studied 
and  practiced  the  same  as  men  and  did  quite  as  creditable 
work.  Many  specialized  as  midwives,  and  it  was  as  a  midwife 
that  the  celebrated  Anne  Hutchinson  started  her  career. 

During  the  Revolution  the  untrained  and  unorganized  con- 
dition of  the  profession  was  revealed,  and  this  resulted  in  the 
founding  of  medical  schools  and  fraternities  for  the  purpose 
of  study  and  the  advancement  of  medicine  as  a  science.  One 
of  the  early  rulings  of  these  organizations  was  to  exclude 
women  from  the  profession. 

This  condition  existed  more  or  less  rigorously  until  1845, 
when  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  an  English  woman,  living  in  New 
York,  appreciating  the  need  of  trained  medical  women,  ap- 
pUed  to  several  medical  schools  for  admission.  Only  one,  the 
medical  school  at  Geneva,  New  York,  would  accept  her,  and 
from  this  school,  in  1849,  she  received  her  degree  with  honors. 
This  act  brought  such  a  volley  of  criticism  upon  the  faculty 
that  it  refused  to  admit  another  woman.  However,  her  sister, 
Emily,  received  a  medical  degree  from  a  Cleveland  medical 
school  in  1852. 

No  hospital  was  open  to  them;  so,  with  the  same  superb 
spirit  that  won  them  their  degrees,  they  founded,  in  1853,  the 
New  York  Infirmary  for  Women  and  Children.  It  was  incor- 
porated, and  the  applicants  for  the  practical  study  of  medi- 
cine were  so  many  that,  in  1868,  the  Drs.  Blackwell  applied 
for  and  obtained  from  the  legislature  a  charter  to  open  a  med- 
ical school  in  connection  with  the  hospital.  "This  college 
always  stood  for  the  highest  in  medical  education  and  was  the 
first  medical  school  in  this  country,  to  require  a  three  years' 
graded  course  of  lectures  for  a  medical  degree.  It  was  also  the 
first  medical  school  to  require  its  seniors  to  attend  maternity 
cases  before  graduation,  and  the  first  chair  of  hygiene  and  the 
first  chair  of  pathology  in  this  country,  were  established  in 
this  school." 

When,  in  1899,  Cornell  Medical  School  received  her 
$1,500,000  endowment  with  the  proviso  that  women  be  ad- 


WOMEN  IN  MEDICINE  205 

mitted  on  equal  terms  with  men,  the  students  from  the  New 
York  IniSrmary  College  were  transferred  to  Cornell  and  the 
college  closed.  This  was  in  accordance  with  the  expressed  wish 
of  the  founders,  who  believed  that  when  the  best  medical 
schools  were  open  to  women  it  would  be  to  their  advantage 
to  study  at  a  coeducational  college. 

The  Women's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  is  another 
** class  A"  medical  school  that  was  founded  by  women  and  is 
now  the  largest  medical  school  for  women  in  the  world.  It  has 
many  splendid  graduates  practicing  in  almost  every  country. 

The  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  at 
Boston,  was  founded  by  Dr.  Marie  Zakzriewska,  an  associate 
of  the  Drs.  Blackwell,  and  here  the  first  training  school  for 
nurses  in  this  country  was  established. 

Barring  the  handicap  of  prejudice,  the  great  instinctive  call- 
ing in  the  soul  of  woman  to  serve  humanity  not  only  faithfully 
and  cheerfully  but  intelligently,  and  to  the  highest  degree, 
has  whetted  her  courage  and  perseverance  until  to-day  there 
is  scarcely  a  "class  A"  medical  school  or  medical  congress  in 
the  world  that  is  not  open  to  her  on  the  same  terms  as  men. 

Medicine  is  preeminently  the  most  attractive  profession 
from  every  viewpoint,  that  is  open  to  the  college  girl  of  to- 
day. Her  literary  and  scientific  training  are  not  only  neces- 
sary, but  all  her  natural  charm  and  womanliness  are  required. 
There  is  not  a  mental,  physical,  or  personal  quality  worth 
while  that  the  woman  physician  does  not  need.  Good  health 
and  a  cheerful,  buoyant  spirit  are  as  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cessful practitioner  as  her  scientific  knowledge.  It  is  the  un- 
limited opportunities  that  this  profession  offers  for  the  fullest 
development  of  one's  best  qualities  that  makes  one  feel  the 
joy  and  richness  of  the  work. 

Women  were  never  so  well  qualified  to  study  medicine  as 
they  are  to-day.  Their  broad  education  and  athletic  lives 
give  them  a  splendid  foundation,  and  medical  women,  as 
a  whole,  are  earning  more  money  than  women  in  other  pro- 
fessions, and  it  is  one  of  the  few  professions  in  which  women 
receive  the  same  remuneration  as  men. 


206  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Preparation  necessary 

The  Association  of  American  Medical  Colleges  controls  the 

requirements  for  admission  to  medical  schools  of  "class  A." 

The  candidate  must  present  satisfactory  evidence  that  she 
has  attended  an  accredited  college  or  university,  for  at  least 
two  years,  as  a  regular  student  in  line  for  a  bachelor's  degree. 
She  must  have  had  courses  in  physics,  biology,  chemistry, 
English  and  modern  languages,  each  suflBcient  in  amount  to 
equal  that  required  by  the  Council  of  Medical  Education  of 
the  American  Medical  Association  and  of  the  Regents  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Some  colleges,  such  as  Tufts  College  in  Boston,  have  ar- 
ranged a  two  years'  pre-medical  course  which  fulfills  these 
requirements.  A  bulletin,  describing  this  course,  is  issued  by 
the  college. 

The  medical  course  at  all  "class  A"  schools  is  four  years. 
Many  colleges  and  universities  give  a  combined  college  and 
medical  course  of  seven  years,  the  graduate  receiving  both 
degrees. 

All  state  universities,  and  with  few  exceptions  all  universi- 
ties admit  women  to  their  medical  schools.  The  following  col- 
leges admit  women  on  the  same  terms  as  men:  Johns  Hopkins, 
Cornell,  Columbia,  University  of  Pennyslvania,  Leland  Stan- 
ford, Rush  Medical  School  in  Chicago,  Jefferson  Medical 
School  in  Philadelphia,  Tufts  College  Medical  School  in 
Boston,  and  Boston  University. 

The  World  War  opened  practically  all  medical  schools  to 
women.  Harvard  University  does  not  yet  admit  women, 
although  it  has  appointed  a  woman  as  Associate  Professor  in 
Industrial  Medicine,  and  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospi- 
tal, an  institution  controlled  by  Harvard,  has  appointed 
women  on  its  staff. 

All  New  York  public  hospitals  are  open  to  women  and  many 
of  the  large  hospitals  throughout  the  country  have  appointed 
women  on  their  staffs. 

The  woman  who  has  obtained  her  medical  degree  and  had 


WOMEN  IN  MEDICINE  207 

hospital  training  is  then  confronted  with  the  problem  of 
choosing  between  a  salaried  position  in  an  institution,  or  in- 
dustry, or  private  practice.   Each  has  its  advantages. 

Financial  return 

For  the  doctor  of  limited  means,  the  salaried  position  is  more 
tempting.  It  has  the  advantage  of  regular  hours  in  addition  to 
the  definite  income.  The  woman  starting  an  independent 
practice  may  choose  to  specialize  or  do  general  work.  In 
either  case  her  return  will  be  small  at  first,  but  the  field  is  un- 
limited and  ultimately  her  financial  returns  will  be  greater. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Business  ability  is  required  in  the  medical  profession  as 
much  as  in  any  line  of  industry  and  the  failure  of  many  doc- 
tors to  succed  is  due  to  careless  business  methods. 

Advantages 

The  future  holds  no  dull  days  for  the  student  who  enters  a 
medical  school.  From  the  start,  the  studies  are  most  interest- 
ing and  this  interest  grows  as  clinical  work  and  hospital  prac- 
tice are  added,  for  there  is  no  study  more  fascinating  than  the 
study  of  the  human  body  in  health  and  disease. 

There  is  no  monotony  in  the  life  of  a  physician,  and,  as  the 
years  pass,  her  knowledge  and  experience  make  her  more 
valued  in  a  community.  There  is  no  ennui  nor  chimney  cor- 
ner for  her,  for  the  progressive  medical  woman  is  never 
passSe.  Nor  does  the  study  of  medicine  debar  a  woman  from 
matrimony  and  the  joys  of  home  life.  Many  of  our  eminent 
medical  women  are  wives  and  mothers,  besides  having  entree 
to  a  delightful  social  and  intellectual  life. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Supply  and  demand 
There  are  at  present  about  six  thousand  women  physicians 
in  the  United  States,  and  the  demand  is  far  greater  than  the 
supply.    It  is  the  profession  par  excellence  for  the  girl  with 


208  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

ability  who  is  independent  financially.  K  she  could  but  realize 
the  splendid  future  it  opens  to  her,  she  would  not  be  satisfied 
to  come  out  from  college  with  the  idea  of  doing  only  welfare 
work  when  she  can  qualify  herself  to  work  in  a  field  of  such 
unlimited  and  varied  opportunities. 

To-day  much  is  being  done  along  the  line  of  preventive 
medicine  and  the  study  and  practice  of  this  specialty 
should  be  particularly  attractive  to  women. 


HOME  ECONOMICS  SERVICES 
THE  CAFETERIA  MANAGER 

HELEN  E.  SCRIPTURE 

Superintendent,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  Dining  Service 

Description  of  occupation 

Cafeteria  management  has  developed  in  the  last  five  or  six 
years  into  a  definite  profession.  The  work  is  most  interesting, 
as  so  many  opportunities  are  afforded  for  precise  study,  and 
it  can  be  definitely  divided  into  three  classes,  each  similar 
to  the  other,  but  with  different  requirements  which  govern 
the  service: 

Commercial,  or  the  downtown  luncheon  problem. 

Institutional,  schools,  colleges,  Y.M.C.A.,  etc. 

Industrial,  closely  connected  with  the  welfare  work  among 
the  employees  of  large  manufacturing  concerns. 

The  work  in  general  is  the  same,  the  details  varying  with 
the  class  of  patrons  in  regard  to  the  kind  of  food  required,  the 
prices  received,  the  problem  of  speed,  as  in  a  factory  or  school, 
where  there  is  a  limited  hour  for  service. 

The  management  of  a  cafeteria  is  dependent  on  the  policy 
of  whatever  firm  or  company  is  responsible,  and  the  manager 
is  usually  engaged  to  carry  out  such  a  policy.  In  a  commer- 
cial cafeteria  the  object  is  financial  profit;  industrial  cafeterias 
are  often  rim  on  welfare  lines,  usually  at  some  expense  to  the 
firm;  and  institutional  cafeterias  are  expected  to  clear  ex- 
penses without  profit.  In  any  event  the  occupation  is  all- 
embracing.  The  manager  must  understand  her  problem  first, 
must  be  capable  of  analyzing  it  and  organizing  her  forces  to 
fit  the  work.  She  must  know  how  to  engage  and  direct  her 
employees;  she  must  understand  the  food  markets  and  the 
buying;  she  must  know  the  principles  of  cooking  and  dietetics 
so  as  to  make  intelligent  and  economical  menus;  she  must 


210  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

understand  finances  and  the  elements  of  bookkeeping;  and 
she  must  know  something  of  building,  equipment,  and  ma- 
chinery. I  do  not  know  of  any  occupation  more  comprehen- 
sive or  more  affected  by  so  many  different  factors  than  the 
management  of  an  establishment  which  serves  food  to  the 
public. 

Training  necessary 

Training  is  essential  for  this  work,  as  the  technical  details 
must  be  understood  to  permit  of  advance.  Any  one  with 
capability  and  good  ideas  of  managing  help,  combined  with 
knowledge  of  housekeeping,  can  become  a  supervisor  of  serv- 
ice, or  can  come  up  from  the  ranks  to  a  certain  position  and 
salary  as  assistant,  but  for  the  entire  responsibility  some  sort 
of  technical  training  is  absolutely  necessary.  There  are  so 
many  things  you  do  not  know  unless  you  have  studied.  The 
best  combination  is  the  girl  who  has  worked  up  from  the 
ranks,  but  who  realizes  that  without  definite  training  she 
cannot  get  any  further,  and  so  she  takes  a  year  or  two  for 
study.  She  has  the  experience  plus  the  training  which  makes 
for  better  work  than  the  woman  who  has  the  training,  but 
must  still  gain  the  experience.  The  post-graduate  training,  to 
my  mind,  is  far  the  most  valuable;  you  know  what  you  need 
and  are  earnest  in  getting  it,  and  bend  every  effort  to  get  it 
quickly.  The  courses  in  institutional  management  given  in  the 
East  by  Simmons  College,  Cornell,  and  Columbia  are  excellent. 
The  Western  colleges  also  give  good  courses,  but  are  un- 
known to  me  personally.  Good  work  is  done  by  the  Y.W.C.A., 
which  gives  a  short  course  (four  months)  and  also  a  year's 
course.  The  School  of  Household  Arts  at  the  Framingham 
Normal  School  gives  a  four  years'  course.  The  best  founda- 
tion for  an  executive  position  in  this  line  of  work  is  a  good 
home  training  with  a  high-school  or  undergraduate  course  in 
the  sciences, physics,  physiology,  chemistry  (important),  with 
the  practical  application  of  principles  of  cookery  and  domes- 
tic science. 


THE  CAFETERIA  MANAGER  211 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  the  same  as  in  any 
other  branch  of  work.  Faithful,  intelligent,  comprehensive 
application  will  count;  the  degree  of  advancement  depends 
on  the  individual,  and  the  one  great  quality  beyond  the 
knowledge  of  your  work  is,  as  always,  executive  ability. 
Large  salaries  are  paid  to  executives,  those  who  can  get  things 
organized  and  show  results.  The  chances  for  advancement 
are  good,  and  there  are  more  positions  for  trained  executives 
in  this  business  than  there  are  women  to  fill  them. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  is  satisfactory;  most  branches  of  the 
work,  particularly  commercial  and  industrial,  are  well  paid. 
The  institutional  work  is  not  so  remunerative,  as  it  is  well 
known  that  most  institutions  cannot  afford  to  pay  big  sal- 
aries. In  that  field,  though,  as  in  the  commercial,  the  salary 
is  commensurate  with  the  results  of  the  department.  Execu- 
tives in  this  work  earn  from  $1500  to  $4000.  I  have  heard  of 
only  a  few  exceptional  cases  exceeding  $4000.  The  super- 
visor, or  assistant  to  executive,  should  receive  $900  to  $2000. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

FmsT,  a  natural  housekeeping  instinct  —  the  desire  to  serve 
good  food,  well  cooked  and  attractive,  in  a  clean  place.  For 
this  there  is  nothing  better  than  a  good  home  training.  Girls 
brought  up  in  a  good  home  with  a  careful  mother's  teaching 
make  the  best  supervisors.  Nothing  will  take  the  place  of  this 
early  teaching,  for  a  girl  not  naturally  neat  and  without  the 
home  instincts  will  never  make  a  complete  success.  This  is 
essentially  a  woman's  work.  Next,  a  good  disposition  — 
cheerful,  not  sulky,  patient  and  agreeable,  yet  forceful  and 
tactful.  Nothing  is  so  trying  as  the  serving  of  food  —  partic- 
ular guests  on  one  hand,  and  the  clamoring  of  unreasonable 
help  on  the  other,  never-ending  details  to  be  planned  and 
settled,  and  wrongs  to  be  straightened  out.  Other  qualifica- 


212  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

tions,  knowledge  of  your  work,  tact  in  handling  employees, 
shrewdness  and  foresight  in  buying,  financial  details,  etc., 
can  be  cultivated  and  acquired  by  study  of  your  problems  and 
by  experience.  But  the  natural  qualifications  are  more  es- 
sential in  this  than  in  any  other  line  of  women's  work.  Once 
a  careful  housekeeper,  always  one. 

Advantages 

The  question  of  advantages  is  always  variable.  What  may 
be  of  advantage  to  one  woman  will  not  be  to  another.  Few 
cafeterias  offer  positions  where  living  is  furnished,  as  it  is  to 
hospital  dietitians  or  club  managers.  This,  to  my  mind,  is  a 
distinct  advantage.  You  can  go  home,  get  away  from  your  work, 
get  the  fresh  air  and  recreation  over  Sunday,  where  a  resi- 
dential position  means  twenty-four  hours  on  the  job.  And  yet 
many  women  prefer  to  live  where  they  work.  The  advantages 
of  contact  with  others,  of  cooperation,  are  manifold;  you  are 
bound  to  have  the  rough  edges  worn  down,  and  must  learn 
the  lessons  of  give-and-take.  There  are  many  opportunities, 
also,  for  study  of  economic  conditions  and  labor  problems, 
through  the  necessity  of  understanding  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand.  Unless  one  is  energetic  about  out-of-door  exercise, 
the  work  is  confining;  the  effort  toward  regular  exercise  must 
be  deliberately  made.  However,  almost  any  work  is  confining, 
and  the  question  of  exercise  out  of  doors  must  be  settled  by 
the  individual  for  herself.  There  are  many  unpleasantnesses 
connected  with  the  business;  always  upholding  standards  of 
cleanliness,  always  keeping  people  to  their  work,  always  com- 
plaints from  the  help,  and  very  seldom  a  word  of  commenda- 
tion. When  food  is  good  and  well  served  the  public  take  it  for 
granted;  it  is  only  when  something  is  the  matter  that  you 
hear  about  it. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  demand  for  competent  managers  is  greater  than  the 

supply,  although  there  are  a  great  many  floating  workers  who 


THE  CAFETERIA  MANAGER  213 

will  never  make  executives  or  even  really  capable  assistants. 
The  future,  however,  is  almost  unlimited  for  managers,  as 
cafeteria  management  is  now  recognized  as  a  woman's  work, 
and  is  becoming  more  and  more  closely  associated  with  schools 
and  colleges,  and  with  all  welfare  and  industrial  work.  The 
measure  of  service  to  society  is  really  great;  good  food  and 
clean  living  are  always  factors  toward  uplift.  This  may  be 
especially  demonstrated  in  factory  and  school  work. 

Suggested  reading 

The  reading  list  applying  directly  to  cafeteria  management 

is  distinctly  limited.  All  auxiliary  subjects  such  as  the  sciences 

contributing  to  the  knowledge  of  growth  of  food  materials, 

buying,  preparation,  use  and  nutritional  qualities  of  food  are 

all  good,  and  can  be  found  in  any  library.    The  following 

list  is  specific  and  may  be  recommended: 

All  bulletins  issued  by  the  Home  Economics  Department, 

Bureau  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.C. 
All  publications  of  the  "Home  Economics  Journal,"  Balti- 
more, Md. 
All  publications  of  "Hotel  Monthly,"  John  Willy,  443  South 

Dearborn  Street,  Chicago. 
Bulletin  of  the  National  Association  of  Corporation  Schools, 

130  East  15th  Street,  New  York  City. 
"Lunch    Rooms    for    Employees"  —  Anice    L.     Whitney. 

Monthly  Review,  U.S.  Bureau  Labor  Statistics. 
Booklets  published  by  General  Electric  Company,  Cleveland, 

Ohio.  I 
Restaurant   facilities   for    shipyard    workers,    Government 

Printing  Oflfice,  Washington,  D.C. 
Other  publications  of  the  Industrial  Service  Section  of  the 

Emergency  Fleet  Corporation. 


214  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

CANNING  AND  PRESERVING  OF  HOME 
PRODUCTS 

MELITA  CRAWLEY 

Description  of  occupation 

The  canning  and  preserving  of  one's  own  farm  products  is 
a  vocation  open  to  women  which  will  prove  both  interesting 
and  profitable;  interesting  in  that  it  provides  an  oppor- 
tunity for  outdoor  as  well  as  indoor  work  and  profitable  in 
that  there  is  a  growing  demand  for  products  of  this  nature. 

Such  an  occupation  means  the  raising  of  vegetables  and 
fruits  suitable  for  canning  purposes,  the  selection  and  gather- 
ing of  these  products  at  the  right  age  for  canning,  the  quick 
handling  from  time  of  picking  until  placed  either  in  preserv- 
ing kettle  or  jars,  and  the  exercising  of  much  care  in  the  cook- 
ing or  processing  until  the  jars  are  finally  sealed. 

The  actual  work  to  be  done  must  start  with  a  thorough 
preparation  of  soil  and  fertilization  of  same,  careful  selection 
of  seeds  or  plants,  constant  cultivation  of  growing  crops, 
control  of  insect  pests  and  diseases,  careful  selection  in  gath- 
ering and  grading,  thorough  cleanliness  in  preparing  the  jars 
and  products  for  the  jars,  and  in  bottling  and  labeling.  Selec- 
tion of  uniform,  attractive  jars  and  labels  also  is  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  work,  as  the  attractive  appearance  of  the 
product  is  a  large  factor  in  selling  the  article,  but  even  this 
will  not  sell  the  article  to  a  customer  a  second  time,  if  quality 
is  lacking.  Some  record  should  be  kept  throughout  the  work 
so  that  the  cost  of  production  may  be  estimated,  in  order 
that  a  price  fair  to  the  producer  and  consumer  may  be  charged 
for  the  finished  product. 

Preparation  necessary 

It  depends  largely  upon  the  woman  undertaking  the  work 
as  to  the  preparation  and  training  necessary.  Some  women 
are  naturally  very  skillful  in  the  canning  and  preserving  of 


PRESERVING  HOME  PRODUCTS  215 

vegetables  and  fruits,  and  by  reading  and  studying  along 
these  lines  and  keeping  in  touch  with  the  newest  methods 
as  outlined  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington, 
they  would  undoubtedly  be  successful  without  taking  any 
special  courses.  For  the  out-of-door  work,  better  results 
would  be  obtained  from  some  special  study,  as  women  are 
not  by  nature  as  good  farmers  as  cooks,  though,  of  course, 
there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule. 

The  State  agricultural  colleges  offer  women  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity to  study  along  these  lines.  A  regular  four-year  course 
can  be  taken,  or,  if  one  is  unable  to  spend  as  long  a  time  in 
preparation,  there  are  the  winter  courses  of  usually  ten  weeks, 
also  summer  courses  of  six  to  eight  weeks,  in  which  more 
practical  work  can  be  done.  For  the  woman  who  is  unable 
to  attend  even  the  short  courses  there  are  correspondence 
courses  on  all  the  subjects  pertaming  to  such  an  occupation. 

The  School  of  Horticulture  for  Women  at  Ambler,  Pennsyl- 
vania, also  offers  either  a  three-year  complete  course  or  short 
courses  at  different  seasons  throughout  the  year.  Pratt  In- 
stitute, Brooklyn,  and  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia,  offer 
courses  in  canning.  A  woman  taking  a  regular  academic 
course  at  college  first  would  be  benefited  by  the  courses  in 
the  different  sciences.  Some  system  of  accounting  or  book- 
keeping should  be  studied. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  every  opportunity  for  advancement  in  work  of  this 

nature,  if  one  maintains  the  good  quality  of  one's  products, 

thereby  gaining  new  customers  and  each  year  increasing  the 

output. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  the  first  two  or  three  years  will  not 
equal  the  output  under  ordinary  circumstances.  As  in  any 
other  business,  it  takes  some  time  to  become  established  and 
build  up  your  trade,  to  find  out  from  experience  what  the 


216  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

best  selling  products  are  and  to  work  out  the  problem  of 
buying  seeds,  fertilizers,  glass,  sugar,  and  other  supplies  to 
the  best  advantage.  When  this  period  is  passed  there  should 
follow  a  period  when  the  financial  returns  would  prove  very 
satisfactory  and  enable  one  to  live  well  and  have  capital 
enough  to  increase  the  business  each  year,  thereby  increasing 
the  profits. 

Qualifications  desirable 

An  interest  and  liking  for  out-of-door  life,  a  natural  skill  in 
canning  and  preserving,  resourcefulness,  the  ability  to  stick 
in  spite  of  discouragements,  and  good  health  are  qualifica- 
tions very  desirable  for  success. 

Other  qualifications  desirable  which  may  be  acquired  by 
study  and  training  are  skill  in  gardening  and  canning,  knowl- 
edge of  business  methods  and  handling  of  money  to  the  best 
advantage  and  the  ability  to  approach  a  customer  in  a  pleas- 
ing and  businesslike  way. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  such  an  occupation  are  the  opportunity 
for  an  outdoor  life  for  at  least  part  of  the  time,  a  work  in 
which  there  is  so  much  new  and  interesting  to  learn  and  ob- 
serve that  it  never  becomes  merely  mechanical,  and  at  least 
two  months  in  the  year  when  one  has  the  time  and  freedom 
from  work  to  study  or  for  recreation. 

The  disadvantages  are  that  enough  money  must  be  made 
during  the  working  months  to  carry  one  through  the  year, 
the  extremely  busy  life  one  must  lead  during  July,  August, 
September,  and  October  especially,  when  fruits  and  vege- 
tables have  to  be  handled  quickly,  and  the  long  hours  one 
must  work  during  these  busy  months. 

Demand 

With  the  scarcity  and  high  cost  of  sugar  and  the  natural  de- 
crease in  the  amount  the  housewife  puts  up  of  fruits,  jellies, 
and  jams,  the  demand  for  strictly  pure,  home-made  goods 


'  THE  DIETITIAN  217 

has  been  increasing  each  year.  There  is  an  increasing  de- 
mand each  year  for  vegetables  in  glass,  when  the  customer 
knows  the  vegetables  have  been  grown  and  canned  on  the 
same  farm  with  as  little  loss  in  flavor  and  quality  from  the 
fresh  product  as  possible. 

Reading 

There  have  been  many  bulletins  printed  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  pertaining  to  canning  and  con- 
serving of  foods  the  last  three  years  which  will  be  very  helpful. 

"The  Principles  of  Jelly-Making,"  by  N.  E.  Goldthwaite, 
University  of  Illinois  Bulletin,  vol.  xi,  No.  31,  is  an  excellent 
article  on  jelly  and  jelly-making  and  can  be  obtained  from  the 
college  on  request. 

"Agriculture,"  vols.  1  and  2,  by  Brooks;  "Vegetable  Gar- 
dening," by  Watts;  "Fruit-Growing,"  by  Sears;  "Insect 
Pest  of  Farm,  Garden,  and  Orchard,"  by  Sanderson,  are  all 
excellent  books  to  have  for  reference  and  study. 


THE  DIETITIAN 


y 


LENA  F.  COOPER 

Dean,  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  School  of  Home  Economtea 

Description  of  occupation 

The  scientific  feeding  of  human  beings  has  received  very 
little  attention  until  recent  years.  Research  work  along  food 
and  nutritional  lines  the  past  fifteen  years  has  demonstrated 
so  clearly  the  need  of  balanced  rations  for  human  beings  as 
well  as  especially  regulated  dietaries  for  corrective  measures, 
that  hospitals  and  the  medical  profession  have  come  to  realize 
that  the  dietaries  of  sick  people  should  be  regulated  by  nu- 
trition experts.  Other  institutions  designed  for  well  people 
have  also  come  to  realize  that  trained  women  are  needed  to 
keep  their  people  well.  These  needs  have  been  met  in  the 
person  of  the  dietitian. 


218  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Nutritional  work  for  well  people,  which  might  be  termed 
preventive,  leads  to  such  positions  as  food  supervisor  of  dor- 
mitories, director  of  commons,  director  of  school  lunch-rooms, 
Y.W.C.A.  and  Y.M.C.A.  lunch-rooms,  cafeteria  manager, 
and  director  of  factory  lunch-rooms. 

The  work  for  sick  people  embraces  such  positions  as  dieti- 
tian in  hospitals  and  sanitaria,  consulting  dietitian  in  nutri- 
tion clinics  (connected  usually  with  hospital  dispensaries), 
and  dietitian  for  nutrition  classes  in  public  schools.  The 
visiting  dietitian,  as  a  social  worker,  may  cater  to  the  well 
or  to  the  sick. 

The  hospital  field  furnishes  employment  to  the  majority  of 
dietitians,  it  being  the  older  phase  of  the  work  and  the  phase 
which  one  usually  has  in  mind  when  speaking  of  the  dietitian. 
There  are  three  types  of  dietary  work  represented  in  the 
hospital  field,  namely,  diet  kitchen  supervision,  hospital  food 
supervision,  and  food  and  household  supervision. 

The  work  of  the  first  type,  that  of  the  diet  kitchen  super- 
visor, usually  comprises  the  following  duties:  planning  and 
supervision  of  all  special  and  weighed  diets  and  nourishment; 
catering  to  private  patients;  ordering  supplies;  supervision 
of  the  preparation  and  serving  of  all  food  prepared  in  the 
diet  kitchen;  supervision  of  the  cleaning  in  diet  kitchen;  teach- 
ing of  dietetics,  foods,  and  cookery  to  nurses.  In  this  type  of 
position  the  dietitian  is  usually  responsible  to  the  superin- 
tendent of  nurses  and  is  ranked  as  a  member  of  the  faculty  of 
the  nurses'  training  school.  This  type  of  work  is  especially 
well  adapted  to  the  inexperienced  dietitian  who  may  use  this 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  a  broader  field  —  that  of  supervisor  of 
the  entire  food  problem  of  the  hospital. 

This  second  type  of  dietary  work  includes  not  only  super- 
vision of  the  diet  kitchen,  in  which  much  of  the  responsibility 
of  said  kitchen  will  be  passed  over  to  assistants,  but  the  fol- 
lowing duties  as  well:  Planning  menus  for  the  household,  in- 
cluding staff,  nurses,  domestic  help,  and  patients;  taking 
entire  charge  of  kitchen,  serving-rooms  and  dining-rooms; 


THE  DIETITIAN  219 

hiring  help  in  her  departments;  buying  of  the  food  (this  she 
may  or  may  not  do),  checking  up  the  bills  of  the  departments; 
teaching  the  nurses.  This  type  of  dietitian  is  usually  respon- 
sible to  the  superintendent  of  the  hospital  and  is  considered 
a  member  of  the  staff.  Her  work  is  largely  administrative  or 
managerial.  For  the  experienced  woman  this  type  of  work  is 
preferable  to  the  first  type. 

The  third  type,  that  of  supervisor  of  not  only  the  food  de- 
partment, but  of  the  household  department  as  well,  is  usually 
known  as  dietitian-housekeeper.  Such  a  person  is  also  re- 
sponsible to  the  superintendent  of  the  hospital.  This  type 
of  work  is  entirely  managerial  and  is  common  to  the  small 
hospital  where  supervision  of  the  food  work  does  not  re- 
quire one's  entire  time.  In  addition  to  the  supervision  of  the 
dietary  departments,  she  will  have  the  following  duties: 
supervision  of  all  household  cleaning;  supervision  of  laun- 
dry (if  done  on  the  premises) ;  looking  after  the  linen,  includ- 
ing the  mending;  employment  of  domestic  help. 

In  some  of  the  larger  hospitals  a  visiting  and  consulting 
dietitian  is  employed  in  connection  with  the  out-patient  work. 
Such  a  dietitian  is,  of  course,  also  considered  a  social  worker. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  for  the  vocation  of  dietitian,  it  is  quite  ob- 
vious, must  require  a  thorough  foundation  in  the  sciences,  in- 
cluding physiology,  bacteriology,  and  chemistry.  These  sub- 
jects are  doubly  important  to  the  dietitian  working  with  sick 
people.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  foods  and  food  preparation 
is  absolutely  essential.  Such  administration  courses  as  buying, 
institutional  cookery,  and  institutional  housekeeping  should 
also  form  an  important  part  of  the  course.  Social  science  is 
particularly  desirable  for  those  who  wish  to  do  social  work. 
Such  a  course  should  comprise  at  least  two  years  of  intensive 
training.  A  four-year  course,  in  which  general  educational 
subjects  are  also  included,  is,  of  course,  desirable.  What  is  bet- 
ter still  is  a  graduate  course  of  from  one  to  two  years  in  ad- 


220  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

dition  to  a  regular  college  course,  in  which  event  it  is  desira- 
ble that  the  student  specialize  in  the  above-named  sciences, 
sociology  and  economics,  leaving  the  food  and  administrative 
courses  to  the  special  school.  A  very  convenient  arrangement 
for  those  who  feel  that  they  cannot  spend  more  than  four 
years  in  preparation  is  to  spend  at  least  two  years  in  a  special 
school,  after  which  time  two  or  more  years  can  be  spent  in 
practical  work  in  an  institution,  then  returning  to  college  to 
complete  the  work  required  for  a  degree. 

Schools  giving  training 

Schools  specializing  in  this  type  of  training  are  as  follows: 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  City; 
Simmons  College,  Boston;  University  of  Illinois,  Urbana, 
Illinois;  Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia;  Stout  Institute,  Me- 
nomonee,  Wisconsin;  Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn;  Mechanics 
Institute,  Rochester,  New  York;  The  Battle  Creek  Sanita- 
rium School  of  Home  Economics,  Battle  Creek,  Michigan.  A 
number  of  other  schools  are  also  giving  strong  courses  in  in- 
stitutional management,  many  of  whose  graduates  served  as 
dietitians  in  the  Army  and  Navy  during  the  recent  World  War. 
This  includes  such  schools  as  Ohio  State  University,  Colum- 
bus, Ohio;  Lewis  Institute,  Chicago;  Temple  University,  Phil- 
adelphia; University  of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis;  Iowa  State 
College,  Ames,  Iowa;  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  New  York; 
Framingham  Normal,  Framingham,  Massachusetts;  Kansas 
Agricultural  College,  Manhattan,  Kansas;  University  of 
Chicago,  Chicago;  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison;  Uni- 
versity of  Washington,  Seattle.  There  are  other  universities 
and  colleges  which  are  rapidly  introducing  institutional 
courses. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

There  are  always  opportimities  for  advancement  in  any 
pioneer  work.  So  far  the  work  of  the  dietitian  may  be  said 
to  be  pioneer,  even  though  the  work  is  sufficiently  well  known 


THE  DIETITIAN  221 

to  be  considered  an  essential  part  of  many  institutions.  The 
dietitian  has  only  merely  penetrated  the  medical  field;  like- 
wise the  commercial  and  social  fields.  A  sufficiently  good  be- 
ginning has  been  made,  however,  along  all  of  these  lines  to 
indicate  the  progress  that  will  be  made  within  the  next  few 
years.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  work  of  the 
dietitian  will,  in  the  very  near  future,  be  linked  up  in  a  more 
scientific  way  with  the  metabolism  work  of  hospitals  and  also 
with  that  of  practicing  physicians  in  their  private  work.  The 
consulting  dietitian,  as  a  diet  expert,  to  whom  physicians  will 
send  their  patients  for  instruction,  is  a  possibility  of  the  very 
near  future. 

As  a  vocation  the  institutional  work  pays  very  well,  as 
board,  room  (and  sometimes  laundry)  are  usually  included 
as  a  part  of  the  compensation.  At  the  present  time  salaries 
range  from  $900  per  year,  with  maintenance,  to  $2500  per 
year  and  maintenance.  Usually  from  two  to  four  weeks'  va- 
cation, with  pay,  is  given  the  dietitian. 

Qualifications  desirable 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  are:  tact,  judgment, 
dignity,  executive  ability,  patience,  and  "stick-to-it-iveness." 
Youthfulness  and  youthful  appearance  are  somewhat  against 
the  beginner.  Good  training,  supplemented  by  practical  ex- 
perience, under  the  direction  of  a  well-qualified  person,  is  es- 
sential to  the  development  of  skill  and  self-confidence,  which 
must  also  characterize  the  successful  dietitian.  Above  all, 
one  must  be  able  to  cooperate  harmoniously  with  other  de- 
partments. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Every  occupation  has  its  advantages  and  its  disadvantages. 
The  chief  disadvantage  of  the  dietitian's  calling  is  that  her 
hours  are  likely  to  be  somewhat  long,  This  is  usually,  how- 
ever, a  matter  of  management  on  the  part  of  the  dietitian. 
Another  disadvantage  to  some  is  that  one  must  be  on  one's 


222  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

feet  most  of  the  time.  Some  of  the  advantages  are  that  the 
dietitian  usually  has  at  least  two  hours  off  in  the  afternoon 
when  she  can  get  out  into  the  open  air  for  recreation  and  rest. 
There  are  also  so  many  varieties  of  the  work  that  one  may 
choose  something  to  her  own  liking.  One  of  the  greatest  ad- 
vantages is  the  consciousness  that  one  is  filling  a  very  much- 
needed  place  and  is  able  to  relieve  and  prevent  suffering. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  war  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  work  of  the  dietitian. 
Dating  from  a  few  months  after  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  there  has  been  more  of  a  demand  for 
trained  dietitians  than  the  training  schools  can  possibly  meet. 
One  college  official  recently  stated  that  they  had  had  at  least 
six  calls  for  every  dietitian  they  were  able  to  turn  out.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  the  demand  will  increase  owing  to  the  increased 
interest,  on  the  part  of  not  only  the  medical  profession,  but 
the  public  as  well,  in  foods  and  nutrition.  While  there  are  no 
statistics  available  to  show  the  number  of  dietitians  now  con- 
nected with  institutions  in  the  United  States,  it  is  believed 
that  some  idea  may  be  gained  from  the  number  who  enrolled 
with  the  American  Red  Cross  during  the  war  —  something 
over  2000  registered  with  that  organization,  although  a  por- 
tion of  them  registered  for  teaching  service  only.  More  than 
four  hundred  served  with  the  Army  or  Navy  during  the 
emergency.  It  is  true  that  not  all  of  the  dietitians  enrolled 
with  the  Red  Cross,  but  it  is  known  that  the  majority  did  do 
so.  This  number  compared  with  the  vast  number  of  hospitals 
in  the  United  States  would  indicate  the  large  field  there  is  for 
hospital  work  alone,  for  almost  every  hospital  ought  to  have 
a  well-trained  dietitian.  Thus  far  the  East  leads  in  the  call 
for  dietitians,  although  the  Central  West  and  Western  hos- 
pitals have  made  a  beginning  in  the  demand  for  them. 


DIRECTOR  OF  A  CLOTHING  CENTER       223 

THE  DIRECTOR  OF  A  CLOTHING  CENTER 

ADA  F.  BLANCHARD 

Director  of  Clothing  Information  Bureau,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

This  work  is  the  directing  of  a  community  center  which  is 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  guiding  pubHc  thought  and  train- 
ing in  textile  and  clothing  matters  vital  to  the  consumer. 

A  system  of  education  is  rapidly  developing  throughout 
the  country  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  people  in  both 
rural  and  urban  communities  about  the  various  phases  of  the 
important  subject  of  textiles  and  clothing.  The  desire  and 
demand  on  the  part  of  consumers  to  know  more  about  the 
making  and  selecting  of  clothes  and  to  better  understand 
conditions  governing  their  cost  have  opened  the  way  for 
specialists  on  clothing  and  textile  problems  to  extend  their 
knowledge  to  the  buyers  of  the  country.  In  order  to  extend 
this  instruction,  the  organization  of  centers  for  clothing  in- 
formation becomes  a  part  of  the  educational  system. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  director  of  such  a  center  to  keep  in 
touch  with  all  phases  of  the  work  in  the  home  and  in  the  com- 
mercial world,  to  gather  and  put  in  available  form  informa- 
tion from  all  soiu-ces,  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  guiding 
the  trend  of  public  opinion,  to  arrange  for  the  instruction  of 
those  who  desire  it,  and  to  so  organize  that  the  center  becomes 
an  essential  unit  for  the  service  of  the  community. 

A  clothing  information  bureau  offers  guidance  in  the  prob- 
lems of  thrift,  health,  and  intelligence  in  buying.  It  is  or- 
ganized for  the  purpose  of  training  the  consumer  to  use  in- 
telligence as  a  buyer,  to  realize  her  influence  on  costs  and  con- 
ditions, to  become  thrifty  as  a  manager,  and  to  understand 
the  relationship  of  health  and  efficiency.  This  guidance  in 
clothing  problems  is  a  new  community  service  and  is  exten- 
sive in  scope.  The  following  topics  suggest  the  kind  of  reading 
matter  that  will  be  helpful  in  preparation  for  such  work : 


224  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Selection  of  fabrics  and  garments. 

Testing  of  fabrics. 

Textile  manufacturing  processes. 

Substitutes  and  adulterations. 

Legislation  for  textile  and  clothing  trade. 

Raw  material  supply. 

Clothing  and  health. 

Standardization  of  dress  and  dress  fabrics. 

Shopping  problems  of  the  consumer. 

Training  for  store  service. 

Development  of  home-making  schools. 

University  extension  work  with  home-makers. 

Influence  of  the  consumer  on  costs  and  condition. 

Clothing  Information  Bureaus. 

Training  necessary 

It  is  advisable  for  adequate  preparation  to  study  the  textile 
and  clothing  courses  as  given  in  the  Home  Economics  Divi- 
sions by  schools  like  Simmons,  Chicago  University,  and  Teach- 
ers College  at  Columbia  University;  to  make  a  study  of  eco- 
nomics as  the  subject  relates  to  the  consumer  in  the  home; 
and  to  study  community  center  organization  as  given  in 
courses  at  schools  of  philanthropy.  Experience  in  teaching 
textile  and  clothing  subjects  and  in  organizing  for  com- 
munity welfare  is  essential. 

The  length  of  time  for  training  depends  upon  the  back- 
ground and  spirit  of  the  individual.  Two  years  of  training 
is  the  usual  minimum  professional  preparation  for  the  college 
graduate.  A  person  who  has  had  experience  in  the  home  in 
handling  the  clothing  problems  of  a  family,  or  one  who  is 
familiar  with  welfare  organization,  or  who  has  commercial 
understanding  would  be  able  to  prepare  in  a  shorter  time.  If 
possible  to  plan  courses  which  will  lead  to  the  position  of  di- 
rector, the  following  are  advisable:  undergraduate  coiu'ses  in 
textile  chemistry,  textile  crafts,  sewing,  principles  of  pattern 
making,  alteration,  design  applied  to  clothing  and  textiles. 


DIRECTOR  OF  A  CLOTHING  CENTER       225 

color  applied  to  clothing,  processes  of  manufacture  of  textiles 
and  clothing,  economic  buying,  household  accounts,  eco- 
nomics, community  civics. 

Supply  and  demand 

As  new  bureaus  are  established  directors  will  be  needed.  This 
is  a  new  field  open  for  development  and  offers  opportunity 
for  advancement  from  director  of  a  small  bureau  to  director 
of  a  larger  center,  and  also  to  positions  of  leadership  in  govern- 
mental work  in  the  States  Relations  Service. 

There  is  a  steadily  increasing  demand  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  where  community  interest  and  progressive  schools 
are  to  be  found.  At  present  the  number  of  directors  is  limited. 
Various  phases  of  the  work,  however,  are  being  taken  care  of 
by  rural  and  urban  home  demonstration  agents  and  leaders. 
In  the  State  of  Massachusetts  there  is  a  rural  State  leader, 
two  rural  assistant  leaders,  eleven  county  home  demonstra- 
tion agents,  and  five  urban  home  demonstration  agents. 
Other  States  are  doing  the  same  kind  of  work. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  in  1920  can  be  estimated  at  from  $1200 
as  a  minimum  to  $2500  and  upward,  as  the  center  increases 
in  service  to  the  community. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  PERSON  entering  this  division  of  service  should  possess  a 
natiu-al  human  interest,  should  have  the  qualities  required 
for  good  teaching,  should  have  ability  to  organize  and  execute, 
and  should  be  an  enthusiastic  leader.  The  work  being  educa- 
tional and  ethical  in  nature,  includes  the  teaching  of  girls  and 
mothers  who  have  missed  school  training,  working  with  in- 
terested women,  and  studying  vital  human  problems,  and  is 
a  very  agreeable  occupation  for  those  who  wish  to  use  their 
training  in  service  and  for  earning  a  livelihood. 


226  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

EXTENSION  WORK  UNDER  SMITH-LEVER  ACT 

EDITH  C.  SALISBURY 

States  Relations  Service,  United  States  Department  of  AgricvUtare 

Description  of  occupation 

Home  demonstration  work  is  the  name  applied  to  that  mod- 
em type  of  extension  work  with  women  which  implies  the  or- 
ganization of  the  women  of  a  locaUty  for  the  definite  purpose 
of  improving  housekeeping  practices  and  solving  the  every- 
day problems  of  home-making,  especially  those  common  to 
the  rural  sections,  with  the  assistance  or  under  the  guidance 
of  a  trained  worker  who  is  termed  the  "Home  Demonstration 
Agent."  This  trained  worker  is  cooperatively  employed  by 
the  State  Agricultural  College  and  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, whose  joint  representative  (agent)  she  is  in  the  county 
in  which  she  is  at  work.  Her  salary  and  expenses  are  usually 
paid  from  Federal,  State,  or  County  funds.  The  programme 
of  work  which  this  demonstration  agent  undertakes  in  a 
coimty  is  determined  by  the  immediate  needs  of  the  people, 
by  whom  it  is  suggested  and  developed. 

Through  the  work  of  the  home  demonstration  agent  a  tre- 
mendous service  has  been  rendered  during  the  last  two  years 
to  the  women  of  America,  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of 
whom  received  definite  and  practical  assistance.  While  a  pro- 
vision of  the  Smith-Lever  Act  contemplates  an  agent  in  every 
agricultural  county,  this  worker  is  employed  only  as  there  is 
demand  from  the  people  in  the  county  for  her  service  and 
when  some  part  of  her  salary  and  expenses  are  assumed  by 
the  local  people.  There  are  at  present  approximately  one 
thousand  agents  employed  in  the  United  States.  The  Federal 
and  State  plan  of  organization  for  this  form  of  extension  work 
includes  a  leader  of  home  demonstration  agents  with  head- 
quarters at  the  State  Agricultural  College,  home  demonstra- 
tion agents  in  all  counties,  fulfilling  the  requirements  for 
support  and  cooperation,  and  a  trained  supervisor  for  each 


EXTENSION  WORK  227 

ten  to  twelve  counties  in  which  agents  are  at  work.  Two 
kinds  of  training  are  needed  in  home  demonstration  work: 
first,  technical  training;  second,  ability  to  develop  leadership 
through  organization.  In  the  case  of  the  State  leader  of  home 
demonstration  agents,  administrative  ability  is  important. 

The  special  duties  of  a  home  demonstration  leader  are  ad- 
vising with  the  home  demonstration  agents  regarding  their 
special  activities,  and  the  development  of  such  projects  as 
may  be  adopted  in  the  programme  of  their  county,  bringing 
from  county  to  county  methods  that  have  proved  successful 
in  the  work  of  the  agents;  keeping  in  touch  with  other  State 
organizations  with  a  view  to  maintaining  full  efficiency  with- 
out the  duplication  of  efforts.  Where  desired  by  the  people  of 
a  county  the  leader  will  present  plans  for  home  demonstra- 
tion work  and  the  necessary  budget  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners. Through  her  contact  with  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture the  State  leader  will  be  able  to  bring  to  the  counties 
in  her  State  the  best  methods  for  work  that  have  been  de- 
veloped in  other  States. 

The  duties  of  the  agents  are  similar  to  those  of  the  leader 
except  that  her  efforts  are  concentrated  on  the  needs  of  the 
people  in  one  county.  She  advises  with  the  people  regarding 
activities  which  are  included  in  the  programme;  seeks  to  de- 
velop leadership  among  the  people;  demonstrates  principles 
and  methods  that  are  applicable  to  the  conditions  of  her 
county  and  encourages  the  women  to  cooperate  with  her  as 
demonstrators  in  their  homes  of  these  methods  and  principles, 
with  a  view  to  improving  general  housekeeping  practices.  The 
home  demonstration  agent  is  responsible  to  the  leader  at  the 
State  Agricultural  College  and  through  her  to  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  for  results  that  are  to  be  obtained  from  the 
demonstrations  that  have  been  established  in  the  counties. 

Preparation  or  training 

The  home  demonstration  leader  is  a  college  graduate  prefer- 
ably having  special  training  in  home  economics  and  several 


228  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

years'  practical  experience  in  extension  work  with  women. 
Because  of  the  nature  of  her  work  it  is  desirable  that  she  be  a 
woman  of  mature  years. 

The  home  demonstration  agent  requires  adequate  technical 
training  combined  with  tact  and  teaching  ability.  It  is  desir- 
able that  while  usually  a  college  graduate,  she  should  have 
had  special  training  in  home  economics,  and  a  background  of 
experience  in  practical  housekeeping.  Her  home  economics 
training  may  well  be  supplemented  with  a  special  course  in 
journalism,  public  speaking,  and  the  fundamentals  of  such 
subjects  as  gardening,  poultry-raising,  beekeeping,  etc.,  and 
such  other  subjects  as  are  closely  allied  with  the  home  in- 
dustries of  American  women. 

Schools  at  which  training  may  be  obtained  are  agricultural 
colleges  in  the  United  States  which  offer  home  economic 
courses  and  courses  in  the  other  subjects  above  mentioned. 
Several  of  the  leading  educational  institutions  in  the  country 
are  offering  special  courses  in  extension  methods  during  the 
summer  sessions.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Cornell 
University,  University  of  Dlinois,  University  of  Ohio,  Oregon 
State  Agricultural  College,  and  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Home  demonstration  agents  may  be  advanced  to  State  leader 
of  home  demonstration  agents.  Leaders  may  be  advanced  to 
the  position  of  assistant  or  vice-director  of  extension. 

Financial  return 

For  State  leaders  of  home  demonstration  agents,  minimum, 
$2000;  maximum,  $4000.  Home  demonstration  agents,  mini- 
mum, $1200;  maximum,  $3000. 

Qualifications 

Natural:  interest  in  people,  sympathy,  optimism,  patience, 
and  abundance  of  good  health.  Acquired:  teaching  ability, 
and  ability  to  organize  and  develop  leadership. 


EXTENSION  WORK  229 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

There  is  no  type  of  educational  work  which  presents  greater 
opportunity  for  the  development  of  the  individual  worker, 
whose  vision,  interests,  and  sympathies  are  constantly  being 
broadened  with  the  development  of  her  work.  The  contacts 
which  she  is  required  to  make  with  people  of  varied  types  and 
interests  are  also  advantageous  whether  as  leader  or  agent. 
The  work  requires  a  great  amount  of  travel  and  change  of 
environment. 

The  disadvantages  are :  irregular  and  long  hours  required  in 
attendance  at  night  and  day  meetings,  and  in  travel;  constant 
demands  for  service  and  a  programme  of  work  which  offers 
unexpected  developments  and  makes  unusual  demands  on 
time  and  strength. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  approximately  one  thousand  extension  workers  in 
the  United  States.  There  are  positions  to  be  filled  as  soon  as 
suitable  workers  can  be  found.  The  demand  is  not  restricted 
to  any  particular  locality.  Future  demands  will  be  greater  as 
the  results  of  the  work  become  more  apparent. 

Suggested  reading 
Agricultural  Year-Book. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of  States  Relations  Service, 
Report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 
Reports  of  Extension  Officers  of  States  Relations  Service. 
State  and  other  Extension  News  Letters. 
Farmers'  Bulletins,  and  current  books  on  home  economics  and 
allied  subjects. 


230  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

EXTENSION  WORK  IN  HOME  ECONOMICS 

ALICE  M.  BLINN 

New  York  State  College  of  Agriculture 

Description  of  occupation 

Extension  work  in  home  economics  as  defined  by  present 
practice  is  a  branch  of  the  extension  service  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  as  established  by  the  Smith- 
Lever  Act.  The  work  is  carried  on  by  the  Federal  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  cooperating  with  the  State  Colleges  of 
Agriculture,  the  State  Departments  of  Agriculture,  and  local 
county  and  community  organizations  for  the  improvement 
of  living  conditions  as  they  relate  to  food,  clothing,  shelter, 
and  those  social  features  which  affect  the  home  and  the  com- 
munity. 

Under  this  system  approximately  one  thousand  home  eco- 
nomics extension  workers  are  now  employed  in  the  United 
States.  There  are  positions  now  waiting  to  be  filled  as  soon  as 
suitable  workers  can  be  found.  The  demand  is  not  restricted 
to  any  particular  locality.  Future  demands  will  probably  be 
greater  as  the  results  of  the  work  become  more  apparent. 
Promotion  from  county  to  state  or  college  positions  is  possi- 
ble and  usually  depends  upon  ability,  experience,  and  success 
in  the  first  field  of  endeavor. 

Positions  are  available  for  the  following  types  of  work: 

Home  demonstration  agents  or  assistants.  The  county  home 
demonstration  agent  is  the  trained  worker  employed  cooper- 
atively by  the  organizations  mentioned  and  the  particular 
county  organization  by  which  she  is  engaged.  The  programme 
of  work  which  a  home  demonstration  agent  undertakes  in  a 
county  is  determined  by  the  immediate  needs  of  the  people 
and  is  usually  in  accordance  with  the  programme  of  work 
offered  by  the  State  College  of  Agriculture. 

The  State  leader  has  general  supervision  of  the  home 
demonstration  work  of  the  agents  in  her  State.   The  State 


EXTENSION  WORK  IN  HOME  ECONOMICS     231 

leader  also  presents  plans  for  the  organization  of  demonstra- 
tion work  in  counties  desiring  to  undertake  this  work,  to  the 
county  commissioners  or  supervisors. 

Specialists  in  home  economics.  Every  State  college  carrying 
on  extension  work  employs  home  economics  specialists.  As 
extension  work  is  developed,  specialists  in  foods,  nutrition, 
clothing,  household  management,  health,  and  in  some  of  the 
Southern  and  Western  States  specialists  in  poultry  and  dairy, 
are  employed.  The  specialist  must  be  a  woman  highly  trained 
in  her  subject  who  can  lecture,  demonstrate,  or  hold  clinics  or 
conferences  on  her  subject  at  meetings  arranged  either  by 
college  or  county  agencies. 

State  and  Federal  positions,  A  final  promotion  in  the  ex- 
tension field  may  place  one  in  the  State  college  as  director  or 
vice-director  of  extension  in  home  economics  or  in  the  Wash- 
ington offices  as  a  chief  or  an  assistant  in  the  organization  of 
methods  and  subject-matter  for  the  work  in  the  various  States. 

Junior  home  economics  extension  leader  or  assistant.  For 
those  who  have  special  aptitude  for  work  with  boys  and  girls 
positions  are  open  as  State  leader  of  boys  and  girls  club  work 
or  as  an  assistant  to  this  position,  or  as  specialist  in  either  the 
organization  or  the  subject-matter  relating  to  this  work. 

Administrative  positions.  The  extension  offices  of  both  the 
State  colleges  and  the  Federal  Government  offer  administra- 
tive positions  which  are  often  filled  by  promotion. 

Editorial  positions.  In  addition  to  the  positions  listed  above 
several  State  colleges  employ  a  trained  woman  to  take  charge 
of  the  preparation  of  bulletins,  press  material,  and  other 
printed  material  which  form  an  important  branch  of  the 
extension  service. 

Qualifications 

Qualifications  for  extension  work  in  home  economics 
should  include  a  college  training  in  home  economics,  a  four 
years*  college  course,  or  its  equivalent,  with  specialization  in 
home  economics,  practical  housekeeping  experience,  experi- 


232  '  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

ence  and  training  in  office  administration,  ability  in  organiza- 
tion, ability  to  speak  in  public  and  to  write  for  the  press, 
coupled  with  tact,  a  pleasing  personality  and  good  health. 
Courses  in  journalism,  sociology,  psychology,  and  rural  or- 
ganization are  desirable  additional  training. 

Financial  returns 

Salaries  in  county  positions  range  from  $1200  to  $2700  with 
traveling  expenses;  in  college  and  state  positions  from  $1800 
to  $3200. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

No  type  of  educational  work  presents  greater  opportunity  fop 
the  development  of  the  individual  worker,  whose  vision,  inter- 
ests, and  sympathies  are  constantly  being  broadened  with  the 
development  of  her  work.  However,  constant  demands  for 
service  and  a  programme  of  work  which  offers  unexpected 
developments  make  unusual  demands  on  the  time  and 
strength  of  the  worker. 

Reading 

Further  information  on  extension  work  in  general  may  be 
found  in  the  Agricultural  Year-Book,  the  Annual  Report  of  ^ 
the  Director  of  States  Relations  Service,  the  Report  of  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Reports  of  Extension  Officers  of 
States  Relations  Service,  State  Extension  News,  and  Farm- 
ers' Bulletins.  Current  books  on  home  economics,  rural  organ- 
ization, and  rural  sociology  offer  stimulating  reading. 

THE  HEALTH  INSTRUCTOR  IN  FOODS 

ALZIRA  WENTWORTH  SANDWALL 

Health  Instructor  in  Foods,  Massachusetts  Department  of  Public  Health 

Description  of  occupation 

The  purpose  in  creating  the  position  of  health  instructor  in 

foods  was  to  stimulate  the  people  to  a  full  realization  of  the 


THE  HEALTH  INSTRUCTOR  IN  FOODS      233 

close  relations  of  food  to  health  and  to  increase  the  health  and 
efficiency  of  the  people  by  bringing  clearly  before  them  simple 
facts  regarding  food  and  its  relation  to  health.  Part  of  the 
work  of  an  instructor  comprises  the  following : 

1.  Food  exhibits  depicting  proper  foods  for  children.  These 
exhibits  are  used  in  connection  with  child  welfare  ex- 
hibits. 

2.  Sets  of  lantern  slides  are  often  prepared  for  use  in  lec- 
tures to  children.  They  have  also  been  used  successfully 
in  lectures  to  adult  audiences. 

3.  Sets  of  small  posters  are  often  prepared  showing  daily 
health  habits  for  children  with  special  reference  to  food. 

4.  The  following  articles  on  food  have  been  written  in 
connection  with  the  work  done  in  Massachusetts  and 
distributed  in  numbers  ranging  from  4000  to  65,000; 

1.  Food,  What  It  Is  and  What  It  Does. 

2.  Food  and  the  Calorie. 

3.  Certain  Dietary  Essentials. 

4.  Tissue-Forming  Foods. 

5.  Fats  and  their  Value  in  the  Diet. 

6.  Simple  Facts  about  Digestion. 

7.  The  Carbohydrates. 

8.  Food  for  the  Child. 

9.  The  Value  of  Minerals  in  the  Diet. 

10.  Diet  Slip  1-2-3. 

11.  Food  Rules  for  School  Children. 

12.  The  School  Lunch. 

5.  Lectures  are  given  reaching  all  types  and  classes  of  people. 

6.  Surveys  of  the  States,  to  ascertain  just  what  is  being 
done  along  the  lines  of  food  and  nutrition,  are  carried 
on  in  many  sections  of  the  country. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  training  should  include  a  college  education  with  addi- 
tional work  in  a  school  of  home  economics  specializing  in 
dietetics. 


234  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

The  position  is  so  new  that  the  standard  for  salaries  has  not 

yet  been  established.   The  average  ranges  around  $1800. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Good  health,  sense  of  humor,  executive  ability,  ability  to  meet 
people  easily,  tact,  personal  magnetism,  imagination,  good 
speaking  voice,  thorough  understanding  of  science  of  nutri- 
tion in  all  its  phases,  skill  in  writing,  skill  in  speaking,  skill  in 
planning  lantern  slides,  charts,  and  posters. 

Advantages 

Opportunity  to  meet  and  work  with  those  actively  interested 

in  nutrition  and  health  problems  of  the  day;  opportunity  to 

travel. 

Disadvantages 

When  in  the  office  the  hours  are  from  9  to  5.    As  there  is 

much  field  work,  such  as  exhibits,  lectures,  etc.,  the  hours  are 

often  long  and  irregular.  Because  of  irregular  hours,  lectures, 

etc.,  it  is  impossible  to  make  definite  plans  for  personal  social 

life. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Statistics 

As  far  as  I  know  the  only  other  position  similar  to  that  of 
health  instructor  in  foods  is  that  occupied  by  Miss  Mary 
McCormick,  of  New  York,  as  director  of  nutrition  for  the 
New  York  State  Department  of  Education.  I  think  there  is 
a  bright  future  for  this  type  of  work. 

Suggestive  reading 

Books  on  nutrition,  especially  those  relative  to  new  discov- 
eries and  theories. 
Books  on  diet  in  special  disease. 
Books  on  diet  for  children. 


THE  HOME  DEMONSTRATION  AGENT      235 

"Journal  of  American  Medical  Association." 
State  Health  Bulletin. 
"The  Modern  Hospital." 
"American  Journal  of  Public  Health." 
Publications  from  Children's  Bureau  at  Washington. 
Publications  from  Health  Organization.    (Child  Health  Or- 
ganization, New  York.) 
Publications  from  National  Child  Welfare  Association. 
Publications  from  Modem  Health  Crusaders. 
Publications  from  United  States  Public  Health  Service. 


THE  HOME  DEMONSTRA.TION  AGENT 

LAURA  COMSTOCK  ^ 

State  Home  Demonstration  Leader,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

Home  demonstration  work  is  extension  teaching  of  home 
economics.  The  work  is  given  in  a  community  and  not  as  a 
part  of  a  regular  school  curriculum. 

Actual  work  done 

Plan  of  county  organization: 

(a)  Community  committee  meetings  are  held  for  the  local 
committee  to  determine  its  programme  of  work.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  subjects  which  may  be  con- 
sidered : 

1.  Series  of  lecture-demonstrations  in  nutrition. 

2.  Organizing  a  nutrition  clinic. 

3.  Starting  a  school  lunch. 

4.  Forming  a  clothing  eflficiency  group. 

5.  Keeping  household  accounts  and  having  meetings 
to  analyze  these. 

6.  Studying  household  equipment. 

7.  Kitchen  eflSciency. 

8.  Some  health  or  sanitation  problem. 


236  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

This  community  meeting  is  usually  held  in  cooperation 
with  the  other  members  of  the  Farm  Bureau  staff;  in  many 
counties  it  consists  of  an  agricultural  agent,  home  demonstra- 
tion agent  and  boys'  and  girls'  club  worker. 

(b)  Local  leaders  are  selected  by  the  committee  to  lead' 
these  projects. 

(c)  The  home  demonstration  agent  meets  the  local  leaders 
and  helps  them  to  make  plans  for  carrying  out  the 
project. 

(d)  Home  demonstration  agents  train  local  leaders  and 
home  demonstrators  so  the  work  can  be  given  without 
the  presence  of  the  home  demonstration  agent. 

(e)  Cooperation  with  other  agencies  to  promote  allied 
projects. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  home  demonstration  agents 
have  been  trained  in  the  home  economics  courses  in  the  col- 
leges and  normal  schools.  The  most  successful  have  been  those 
who  have  had  some  experience,  such  as  teaching,  before  they 
begin  this  work. 

In  addition  to  the  home  economics  courses  offered  in  col- 
leges, specific  training  may  be  secured  at  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  New  York;  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
New  York  City;  University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  Illinois,  and 
University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

The  undergraduate  training  course  is  one  of  four  years. 
During  summer  vacation,  requirements  should  be  made  for 
experience  along  such  lines  as  entire  management  of  a  home, 
tea-room  management,  or  assisting  home  demonstration 
agents  or  junior  club  workers. 

After  graduation  two  years'  experience  in  teaching  or  or- 
ganizing a  piece  of  work  which  requires  contact  with  many 
people.  If  a  graduate  course  is  to  be  taken,  a  well-balanced 
home  economics  course  in  the  junior  and  senior  years  should 
be  taken  in  preparation.  Home  conditions  must  be  the  under- 


THE  HOME  DEMONSTRATION  AGENT      237 

lying  thought  of  all  courses.  Courses  in  sociology,  economics, 
education,  and  physical  education  should  be  incorporated  at 
some  time  in  the  training. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  following  are  some  of  the  opportunities  which  are  avail- 
able to-day: 

Small  county.  For  a  first  position  it  would  be  well  for  a  can- 
didate to  secure  work  in  a  small  county  where  community 
organization  is  not  so  difficult. 

Large  counties.  Large  counties  where  organization  of  com- 
munity projects,  training  of  leaders,  and  follow-up  work  is 
more  difficult. 

State  leaders,  etc.  State  leaders,  assistant  State  leaders,  and 
State  specialists  require  different  characteristics. 

Teachers  in  schools  and  colleges.  Teachers  in  schools  and 
colleges  which  will  offer  courses  for  training  home  demonstra- 
tion agents. 

Federal  workers.  Federal  workers  in  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

Financial  return  —  Minimum  and  maximum 

In  Massachusetts,  $1500  to  $2700.  In  other  States  about  the 

same. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Pleasing  personality,  love  of  people,  tact,  good  health,  order- 
liness, leadership,  sympathy,  executive  ability,  skill,  alertness. 

Advantages 

The  development  of  leadership,  organizing  ability,  broader 
interests,  human  interest,  out-of-doors,  realization  of  helping 
some  one  to  live  better. 

Disadvantages 

Long  hours;  occasional  evening  appointments;  compared 

with  teaching,  short  vacation;  lack  of  time  for  social  life. 


238  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Statistics 

There  are  home  demonstration  agents  in  each  State.  A 
conservative  estimate  at  present  is  five  hundred  home  demon- 
stration agents.  The  demand  for  home  demonstration  work 
is  growing. 

PREVENTIVE  WORK  THROUGH  DIETETICS  IN 
SOCIAL  SERVICE 

LUCY  H.  GILLETT 

Dietetic  Bureau  of  the  League  for  Preventive  Work 

Description  of  occupation 

The  aim  of  the  dietitian  in  the  social  field  is  to  help  the  social 
workers  or  nurses  with  food  and  budget  problems  in  connec- 
tion with  their  work.  It  deals  especially  with  families  in 
which  there  are  under-nourished  children.  The  functions  of 
the  worker  are  to  determine  needs  of  any  given  family  in 
terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  to  help  the  family  to  adjust  food 
expenditures  to  incomes,  to  help  the  family  to  spend  its  money 
to  best  advantage,  and  to  advise  mothers  how  to  feed  the 
children  so  as  to  keep  the  healthy  ones  healthy,  or  to  build  up 
those  below  par. 

The  work  is  done  by  well-trained  women  who  understand 
the  economics  of  the  food  problem,  diet  in  disease,  and  the 
characteristics  of  the  diet  of  different  nationalities.  They 
work  through  conferences  on  general  subjects  with  groups 
of  social  workers  or  nurses;  through  individual  conferences 
about  individual  problems;  through  nutrition  classes  for  chil- 
dren in  connection  with  some  medical  agency;  and  through 
workers  who  go  into  homes  to  work  directly  with  the  mother 
and  the  children. 

One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  work  is  the  prepa- 
ration of  leaflets  and  charts  suggesting: 

a.  The  basis  for  estimating  the  amount  of  money  necessary 
to  feed  the  family  with  suggestions  as  to  the  best  ways  of 
spending  it. 


PREVENTIVE  WORK  IN  DIETETICS        239 

b.  The  relative  value  and  economy  of  various  foods. 

c.  Proper  food  for  children  of  different  ages. 

d.  Diets  for  special  conditions,  etc. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

People  who  wish  to  take  up  dietetics  in  social  work  should  be 
graduates  from  a  school  of  recognized  standing  in  home  eco- 
nomics with  thorough  training  in  the  preparation  and  buying 
of  food,  nutrition,  and  sanitation.  They  should  have  had 
actual  experience  in  doing  the  work  required  of  a  house- 
keeper. 

At  Simmons  College,  Boston,  and  Teachers  College,  New 
York  City,  it  is  possible  to  get  a  combination  of  home  eco- 
nomics and  social  work  training.  The  following  alternatives 
are  suggested: 

Four  years*  training  in  home  economics  including  courses  in 
social  work. 

Four  years'  training  in  home  economics  plus  from  one  half 
to  one  year's  training  or  experience  in  social  work. 

Three  years'  training  in  home  economics  plus  one  year's 
training  or  experience  in  social  work. 

Other  suggestions  for  those  already  trained  in  home  eco- 
nomics: 

Three  months'  apprenticeship  as  field  worker  for  some  so- 
cial agency. 

Summer  session  course  in  the  application  of  nutrition  in 
social  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Positions  are  available  for  consultants  or  field  workers  in 
connection  with  relief  organizations,  district  nursing  organi- 
zations, baby  welfare  centers,  tuberculosis  associations,  home 
service  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  social  service  departments 
in  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  schools,  boards  of  health,  and 
other  similar  organizations.  There  are  also  executive  posi- 
tions requiring  the  direction  of  work  for  several  organizations 


^0  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

as  at  the  Dietetic  Bureau  in  Boston  or  the  Visiting  House- 
keepers' Association  in  Detroit,  or  where  one  organization  has 
a  large  number  of  nutrition  workers  as  at  the  Association  for 
Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  in  New  York  City. 

Financial  return 

The  better  the  training  the  better  the  opportunity  for  ad- 
vancement. Salaries  range  from  $1200  to  $3500  and  over. 

Qualifications 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success  are  a  natural  tact  and 
ability  to  convince  others  to  form  proper  habits,  earnestness, 
perseverance,  enthusiasm,  optimism,  and  the  ability  to  co- 
operate with  other  people.  One  must  be  physically  strong. 

In  addition  to  a  knowledge  of  her  own  subject,  one  should 
have  acquired  a  knowledge  of  social  agencies  and  social  prob- 
lems, family  problems  and  possibilities  of  solution,  and  be 
familiar  with  family  budgets. 

Advantages 

The  work  gives  one  a  chance  to  deal  with  people  and  with 
real  problems.  The  worker  takes  to  people,  who  could  not 
otherwise  get  it,  information  that  helps  them  both  physically 
and  financially.  The  work  gives  one  a  feeling  of  working  with 
a  fundamental,  for  it  helps  to  build  up  the  health  of  the  child. 
Good  health  is  fundamental  in  constructive  social  work. 

Disadvantages 

The  work  requires  an  expenditure  of  much  nervous  and  phys- 
ical energy  and  is  therefore  impossible  for  some.  Results  are 
frequently  slow  in  becoming  evident  and  may  therefore  be 
discouraging.  It  may  be  depressing  for  others  to  come  in 
contact  with  much  suffering  that  one  is  not  able  to  relieve. 

Extent  of  work 

The  work  is  still  in  its  infancy,  but  the  need  for  it  is  spread- 
ing rapidly.  The  outlook  is  promising.   The  demand  for  the 


THE  RESTAURANT  MANAGER  241 

right  people  —  people  who  have  desirable  qualifications  — 
is  beyond  the  supply. 

The  requests  for  workers  come  from  the  larger  cities.  The 
work  has  developed  more  rapidly  in  the  East  than  in  the 
West. 


THE  RESTAURANT  MANAGER 

MARY  LOVE 
F.  and  R.  Lazarus  &  Company 

Description  of  occupation 

The  restaurant  manager  is  one  who  assumes  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility of  the  success  of  the  restaurant. 

Its  success  is  based  upon  the  quality  of  its  food  and  service, 
and  both  of  these  are  the  direct  fruits  of  the  organization.  If 
it  is  a  new  restaurant,  the  manager  must  organize  it.  If  it  has 
been  doing  business  before,  the  manager  must  as  a  rule  reor- 
ganize it,  and  in  most  instances  the  latter  is  the  harder  task. 

The  manager  should  teach  and  guide  her  organization,  such 
as  cooks,  waitresses,  etc.,  to  do  their  work  in  the  best  possible 
way,  actually  doing  it  herself  only  when  the  occasion  demands, 
but  always  let  her  help  know  that  she  likes  their  work  and 
that  she  is  capable  of  doing  it.  This  inspires  their  confidence 
and  makes  them  feel  as  if  their  share  in  the  success  of  the 
restaurant  is  worth  while.  With  a  good  manager,  the  occa- 
sions will  grow  less  when  she  has  actually  to  do  any  part  of  the 
work,  and  her  time  will  be  her  own  to  keep  constantly  in 
touch  with  the  whole  and  to  think  and  plan  for  bigger  and 
better  things  for  the  restaurant. 

Quite  often  the  manager  is  expected  to  plan  and  purchase 
the  complete  equipment.  And  it  is  always  her  duty  to  keep 
the  equipment  in  an  efficient  condition. 

It  is  also  the  manager's  duty  to  keep  accurate  accounts  of 
all  business.  One  important  part  is  the  buying.  If  it  is  a 
small  restaurant  and  she  has  time  it  is  well  for  her  to  do  her 


242  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

own  buying.  In  a  larger  one,  however,  it  is  best  to  train  some 
one  to  do  this. 

There  should  be  a  cost  system  where  the  cost  and  sale  of 
separate  items  on  the  menu  are  kept  each  day,  and  where  the 
manager  can  at  any  time  find  where  she  is  making  or  losing  in 
her  business.  Sometimes  it  is  the  chicken,  sometimes  the  ice- 
cream; but  a  good  business  manager  is  one  who  can  put  her 
finger  on  the  very  item  itself  that  is  making  or  losing  her 
money. 

To  sum  it  up,  I  think  the  actual  work  done  by  the  man- 
ager is,  first,  the  part  she  plays  as  a  teacher,  teaching  her  or- 
ganization constantly  the  best  way  of  doing  the  work.  Sec- 
ond, her  vigilant  overseeing  of  the  business  in  the  buying  — 
the  percentages  of  costs  and  sales  —  the  pay-roll,  and  all  the 
items  that  go  to  make  the  work  a  success  financially.  And 
lastly  to  create  a  pleasing  atmosphere  always  in  her  organiza- 
tion, and  when  that  is  done  the  atmosphere  of  the  business  is 
assured. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

This  depends  so  much  upon  the  individual.  Previous  knowl- 
edge of  cooking  received  in  home  training  with  natural  busi- 
ness and  organization  ability  might  equal  in  advantages  any 
special  institutional  school  training. 

Most  any  of  the  universities  and  colleges  that  have  the 
domestic  science  courses  have  also  the  institutional  training 
courses.  The  length  of  training  varies  from  six  months  to 
four  years. 

If  the  post-graduate  work  is  considered,  I  think  the  regular 
domestic  science  course  would  be  most  advisable  for  previous 
work.  However,  if  one  has  natm^l  ability,  a  regular  arts  coiu'se 
would  be  a  splendid  foundation,  taking  all  the  economics  and 
psychology  possible,  the  latter  being  a  great  asset  in  handling 
the  human  beings  that  make  up  the  organization.  The  more 
knowledge  one  has  on  this  subject  the  more  able  one  is  to 
successfully  make  and  hold  together  an  ideal  organization. 


THE  RESTAURANT  MANAGER  243 

Any  actual  experience  in  a  well-managed  restaurant  would 
be  a  very  good  asset  before  taking  one  to  manage.  However, 
I  do  not  think  this  is  imperative. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  are  great  in  this  field. 
The  result  of  one's  success  is  before  the  public  in  the  best  psy- 
chological light.  One  cannot  please  people  more  than  to  serve 
them  their  food  in  an  unusual  and  pleasing  fashion.  This  con- 
stant acknowledgment  of  one's  success  by  the  public  cannot 
help  but  bring  advancement. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  would  depend  entirely  upon  the  size  and 
type  of  restaurant.  To-day  the  minimum  salary  is  about 
$1200  a  year,  while  the  maximum  salary  is  around  $10,000 
a  year. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

These  qualifications  can  come  under  three  general  qualities: 

(1)  A  knowledge  of  good  cookery, 

(2)  Organization  ability, 

(3)  Business  ability. 

These  three,  I  believe,  are  imperative  for  a  successful  man- 
ager. 

The  knowledge  of  cooking  can  have  an  ideal  foundation  in 
home  training,  natural  ability,  and  the  knowledge  obtained  in 
an  institutional  management  course. 

The  organization  ability  simply  means  that  one  has  the 
ability  to  understand  human  beings  and  to  demand  the  best 
that  is  in  them  from  a  just  and  fair  standpoint  for  them,  and 
for  the  maximum  eflficiency  and  success  of  the  business. 

The  business  ability,  of  course,  is  the  natural  ability  and 
knowledge  to  be  able  to  sell  what  one  buys  in  such  an  all- 
around  business  method  that  it  brings  financial  success.  This 
not  only  means  a  knowledge  of  buying  and  accurate  cost  sys- 


244  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

terns;  it  means  the  ability  to  always  put  one's  self  in  the  place 
of  one's  patrons,  and  be  able  to  know  the  service  that  will 
bring  them  back  again  and  again  as  happy  and  satisfied 
patrons. 

Advantages 

There  are  many  advantages  in  this  work.  It  can  never  grow 
monotonous,  for  one  comes  in  direct  contact  with  the  public 
in  the  most  pleasing  way.  Whatever  success  one  makes  is  so 
appreciated  by  them  and  one  has  that  direct  contact  that 
assures  and  gives  confidence. 

Also  the  contact  with  one's  organization  should  be  a  great 
pleasure  to  one  interested  in  "folks,"  their  shortcomings  and 
their  good  qualities;  and  bringing  out  the  best  that  is  in  them 
for  their  own  sakes. 

Disadvantages 

It  might  prove  confining  if  three  meals  a  day  were  served, 
unless  one  proved  one's  self  capable  of  organizing  it  in  a  su- 
perior manner.  The  latter  is  very  possible  and  has  been  done 
in  many  instances.  When  only  luncheon  and  tea  are  served, 
it  is  not  at  all  confining. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  demand  for  trained  women  in  this  field  is  very  great, 

and  the  supply  is  small.  The  reason  is  that  men  holding  these 

positions  have  failed,  principally  because  the  wrong  type  of 

person  as  a  rule  has  followed  this  vocation  and  because,  being 

so  closely  allied  to  home-making,  it  is  woman's  sphere  after 

all. 

Recently  the  domestic  science  student  appeared  on  the 
horizon  and  demonstrated  what  could  be  done  in  this  field  in 
such  an  overwhelming  fashion  that  it  has  been  convincing 
from  the  beginning.  And  there  is  no  question  but  we  are  on 
the  eve  of  a  new  era  in  the  restaurant  world. 


THE  TEA-ROOM  MANAGER  245 

Suggested  reading 
Fannie  M.  Farmer's  Cook  Books. 
Alexander  Hamilton's  '*  Business  Training." 
Books  on  abnormal  and  subnormal  psychology. 
Also  books  on  the  labor  problems  of  to-day. 

THE  TEA-ROOM  MANAGER 
KATHARINE  A.  FISHER 

Description  of  occupation 

Tea-rooms  have  changed  considerably  during  recent  years. 
Formerly  the  majority  of  these  served  only  light,  dainty 
lunches  and  afternoon  tea  for  shoppers.  Good  tea-rooms  now 
correspond  in  character  and  administration  to  a  well-ordered 
lunch-room  where  well-cooked  and  substantial  food  is  attrac- 
tively served,  and  where  the  surroundings  are  artistic  and 
homelike.  The  manager  is  also  hostess,  personally  superin- 
tending the  details  of  service  and  carefully  considering  the 
needs  of  her  patrons. 

Meal  service  is  both  table  d'hote  and  h  la  carte,  some  tea- 
rooms having  both.  This  depends  to  some  extent  upon  the 
location,  the  needs  of  a  residential  district  being  more  ade- 
quately met  by  the  table  d'hote  meal.  Breakfast  is  the  meal 
least  frequently  served,  and  in  the  shopping  and  business 
districts  luncheon  and  afternoon  tea  are  often  the  only 
meals  given. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

A  GOOD  training  in  household  science,  with  special  attention 
to  problems  of  management,  is  an  excellent  preparation  for 
this  field.  State  colleges  offer  four-year  courses  leading  to  a 
degree.  Other  well-known  schools  and  colleges,  such  as  Sim- 
mons College,  Teachers  College,  Pratt  Institute,  Mechanics' 
Institute,  and  many  State  normal  schools  provide  this  in- 
struction. Special  courses  in  institutional  management  are 
now  given  by  a  number  of  schools  and  colleges,  including  those 


246  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

mentioned  above.  These  courses  are  planned  to  meet  the 
needs  of  women  wishing  to  fit  themselves  for  directing  food 
service  and  housekeeping  for  large  groups.  The  length  of  the 
course  ranges  from  one  to  four  years;  those  schools  giving  one 
to  three  years*  courses  require  at  least  high-school  graduation. 
One  should  not  be  more  than  a  year  in  acquiring  skill. 

Qimlifications  desirable  for  success 

To  succeed  in  tea-room  work,  a  woman  must  be  alert  in  re- 
sponding to  the  demands  of  the  public  she  serves.  She  needs 
poise  and  a  tolerant  attitude  in  dealing  with  people  and  buoy- 
ancy in  facing  emergencies  and  changing  conditions.  In  addi- 
tion to  her  ability  to  serve  well-cooked  food  attractively,  she 
must  also  be  able  to  purchase  that  food  to  advantage  and  to 
price  or  "merchandise"  it,  in  order  that  these  prices  may  cover 
all  expenses  involved  in  conducting  the  business  and  also  the 
profit  desired.  A  knowledge  of  business  administration  is 
therefore  required. 

To  develop  this  ability  she  should,  in  addition  to  her  col- 
lege training,  gain  experience  as  a  worker  or  assistant  in  a  suc- 
cessful tea-room.  If  she  has  a  receptive  attitude  and  adequate 
technical  and  scientific  knowledge,  she  should  not  be  long  in  ac- 
quiring skill,  and  the  ability  to  administer  the  business  herself. 

Financial  return 

If  a  woman  wishes  to  conduct  a  tea-room  of  her  own,  capital 
is  of  course  necessary.  For  a  new  business  the  cost  of  furnish- 
ings and  equipment  must  be  considered  and  patronage  may 
grow  so  slowly  at  first  that  expenses  cannot  be  met  for  a  time. 
A  considerable  sum  is  usually  asked  for  the  "good- will"  of  an 
established  business.  The  location  of  a  tea-room  decides  in 
a  large  measure  its  success  or  failure.  The  amount  of  possi- 
ble patronage  should  be  calculated  and  existing  competition 
noted.  Very  liberal  financial  returns  may  be  expected  when 
large  numbers  are  served. 
Such  a  business  may  grow  in  several  ways.  Patronage  may 


THE  TEXTILE  FIELD  U7 

increase  until  extension  of  space  is  necessary.  Branches  may 
be  started,  special  catering  work  developed,  and  a  food  shop 
may  be  included.  There  are  few  limitations  to  such  a  growth, 
with  a  corresponding  increase  in  financial  returns,  except 
available  capital  and  the  executive  ability  of  the  manager. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  tea-room  work  is  an  occupation  where  a  woman  may 
render  a  particular  service.  If  she  loves  the  country,  her  tea- 
room may  be  by  the  broad  highway;  or  it  may  be  at  the  lake 
or  seaside,  in  the  small  town  or  the  large  city.  Wherever  it  is 
she  may  develop  there  the  atmosphere  that  reflects  her  own 
personality.  It  is  not  easy  work.  While  the  business  is  grow- 
ing it  means  close  and  constant  attention  to  details  and  long 
hours  of  work.  It  means  "testing  and  tasting,  time,  thought, 
hard  work  —  and  no  wasting.'*  It  means  persistence  in  main- 
taining high  standards.  It  demands  good  business  methods 
and  sometimes  courage  to  face  a  "slack"  season. 

Extent  of  occupation 

In  nearly  every  part  of  the  country  tea-rooms  have  appeared 
and  their  number  continues  to  increase.  Wherever  a  large 
number  of  people  must  be  fed  outside  of  the  individual  home, 
there  is  usually  a  demand  for  a  tea-room,  as  the  high-class 
hotel  dining-room  or  restaurant,  the  cafeteria  or  the  quick- 
lunch  counter  do  not  answer  that  particular  need  which  a 
good  tea-room  meets. 


THE  TEXTILE  FIELD  AS  A  CAREER  FOR  WOMEN 

MARY  SCHENCK  WOOLMAN 

Specialist  in  Textiles  \ 

Description  of  occupation 

Women  have  always  v/orked  in  the  textile  field,  and  can  claim 
a  large  part  in  the  development  of  civilization  through  their 
inventions  in  primitive  carding,  spinning,  and  weaving.  When 


248  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  making  of  textiles  by  hand  left  the  homes  and  the  great 
power-run  industries  began  to  do  the  work,  women  followed 
the  occupation  into  the  factory,  no  longer  as  controlling  pow- 
ers, but  in  wage-earning  positions. 

In  unskilled  and  partly  skilled  processes  and  where  delicate 
handling  is  needed,  as  in  silk  throwing,  and  in  warping  and 
weaving,  and  also  as  forewomen  at  the  head  of  a  division  such 
as  winding,  quilling,  or  spooling,  they  are  still  found  in  large 
numbers.  In  many  cases  the  workers  receive  excellent  pay, 
piece  rates  usually  amounting  to  from  $15  to  $30  per  week. 
This  work  can  be  learned  in  the  mills,  but  a  good  basic  educa- 
tion is  an  advantage  in  enabling  one  to  more  rapidly  advance 
to  higher  paid  and  better  positions. 

Many  of  the  designers  of  textiles  and  costumes  are  women, 
who  are  often  highly  educated,  cultured,  and  with  exquisite 
taste  and  who  have  had  special  training  in  art  schools  and 
museum  classes.  Since  the  war  many  artists,  editors  of  trade 
magazines,  heads  of  large  ready-to-wear  clothing  houses,  and 
manufacturers  of  textiles  have  endeavored  to  develop  artistic 
textile  and  clothing  designers  so  that  the  United  States  might 
take  a  higher  place  in  the  world's  industries  than  heretofore. 
Museums  have  tried  to  aid  the  situation  and  several  exhibits 
held  in  Chicago  and  New  York  indicate  that  women  are  doing 
some  very  successful  work  and  that  compensation  or  salaries 
are  fair  and  are  increasing. 

An  impetus  toward  developing  textile  handicrafts,  in  weav- 
ing, embroidery,  dyeing  and  batik,  to  accompany  the  artistic 
American  costume,  is  also  being  encouraged.  If  these  move- 
ments are  to  be  worth  while,  art  schools  and  art  departments 
in  the  colleges  and  technical  institutions  must  increase  the 
scope  of  their  work  and  the  practical  outcome  of  their 
courses. 

Preparation  necessary 

CouBSES  in  textiles  are  required  in  the  preparation  of  home 

economics  teachers.    In  1895  Teachers  College,  Columbia 


THE  TEXTILE  FIELD  249 

University,  added  a  textile  course  to  the  training  of  domestic 
art  teachers.  Since  then  the  subject  has  been  increasingly 
used  in  education  from  the  kindergarten  through  the  high 
school,  and  colleges  and  normal  schools  have  added  the  sub- 
ject to  their  home  economics  courses.  Graduate  students  fre- 
quently choose  some  phase  of  textiles  for  research  work. 
Chemistry  and  microscopy  have  become  more  closely  con- 
nected with  textile  economics,  and  art  departments  are  teach- 
ing textile  and  costume  design.  Home  economics  teachers, 
trained  in  this  way,  are  to  be  found  all  over  the  country. 
There  is  a  tendency  in  some  colleges  to  have  one  instructor  for 
all  phases  of  the  textile  subject;  the  early  development,  mod- 
ern manufacture,  selection,  scientific  testing  and  analysis, 
and  art.  Departments  of  chemistry  are  also  inclined  to  have 
one  instructor  devote  all  of  her  time  to  textile  chemistry.  The 
salaries  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  regular  college  or  high 
school,  and  have  been  rising  since  the  war.  A  field  of  textile 
instruction  is  developing  in  department  stores  for  training 
salespeople,  buyers,  and  managers.  Schools  for  training  are 
appearing,  the  Prince  School  of  Store  Service  and  Education, 
in  Boston,  and  the  Salesmanship  School  in  connection  with 
New  York  University  being  representative.  Salaries  seem 
better  than  those  in  the  high  schools  and  colleges,  but  a 
greater  number  of  days  of  service  is  demanded. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  number  of  commercial  positions  in  textiles  is  increasing. 
A  promising  field  is  that  of  textile  buyer  for  a  ready-to-wear 
clothing  house  or  for  a  special  department  of  a  retail  store 
where  textile  knowledge,  understanding  of  market  conditions, 
business  ability,  and  artistic  sense  are  required.  As  yet,  no 
special  training  has  been  provided,  and  the  many  women  who 
are  in  the  field  have  gained  their  positions  almost  exclusively 
through  experience  in  the  work,  together  with  general  ability 
and  a  good  basic  education.  Salaries  netting  from  $5000  to 
$7000  per  year  are  not  unusual.   Some  women  have  risen  to 


250  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

managers  of  the  business,  or  have  even  organized  businesses 
of  their  own. 

College  women  are  entering  the  men's  ready-to-wear  man- 
ufacturing trade  and  are  learning  the  business  from  the  be- 
ginning, in  order,  later,  to  become  eflBciency  overseers  in  fac- 
tories. This  work  has  proved  very  interesting,  but  is  not  yet 
suflficiently  widespread  to  be  considered  a  profession. 

Textile-testing  laboratories  are  being  opened  in  many  de- 
partment stores  and  mail-order  houses,  and  college  women, 
trained  in  textile  chemistry,  are  being  called  to  this  service. 
While  not  yet  determined,  the  work  being  comparatively  new, 
salaries  in  these  positions  are  good.  The  requisite  training 
can  be  obtained  from  colleges  which  are  giving  attention  to 
the  subject;  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New 
York;  Chicago  University;  and  the  Agricultural  College  at 
Ames,  Iowa,  are  representative. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualities  needed  for  success  in  these  various  textile  occu- 
pations are  those  of  the  pioneer  —  enthusiasm,  willingness  to 
work  on  new  problems,  ability  to  grasp  opportunities,  and 
great  persistence.  The  textile  field  is  full  of  interest,  and 
women  succeed  well  in  it. 

Reading 

Numerous  technological  textile  handbooks  have  been  writ- 
ten, but  if  one  desires  to  know  how  training  can  be  obtained 
in  the  processes  of  manufacture  and  in  chemical  and  micro- 
scopical work  it  would  be  well  to  look  over  the  courses  offered 
at  such  colleges  as  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
School  of  Household  Arts;  University  of  Washington,  Seattle; 
or  Chicago  University.  For  utilization  of  the  subject  in  edu- 
cation the  Macmillan  textbooks,  "Shelter  and  Clothing"  and 
"Clothing  and  Health,'*  by  Kinneand  Cooley;  "Textiles  and 
Clothing,"  by  McGowan  and  Waite;  and  "Textiles,"  by 
Woolman  and  McGowan,  give  suggestions.  For  textile  chem- 


THE  VISITING  HOUSEKEEPER  251 

istry  and  testing,  "Textile  Fibers,"  by  Matthews  (Wiley  and 
Son),  could  be  consulted.  The  "Prince  Alumnae  News"  gives 
information  on  the  training  of  salespeople  in  textiles.  The 
daily  trade  paper, "  Women's  Wear,"  is  furthering  the  move- 
ment toward  American  design  in  textiles  and  clothing.  House 
organs  in  leading  department  stores  give  infonnation  on  test- 
ing stations,  salesmanship  courses,  and  the  work  of  heads  of 
departments. 


THE  VISITING  HOUSEKEEPER 
EMMA  A.  WINSLOW 


X 


Secretary,  Committee  on  Home  Economics,  New  York  Charity  Organization 
Society,  Lecturer  in  Household  Arts,  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University 

Description  of  occupation 

Within  the  last  few  years  has  come  an  increasing  realization 
of  the  value  of  personal  service  to  families  with  reference  to 
home-making  problems.  Such  service  is  of  two  types,  educa- 
tional service  and  what  might  be  described  as  emergency  or 
remedial  service.  Both  types,  singly  or  combined,  have  been 
given  by  people  who  have  been  called  "visiting  housekeepers," 
and  there  has  been  a  wide  divergence  in  the  kind  of  work 
done  in  different  localities  under  this  name  and  the  kind  of 
training  required  for  a  position  as  visiting  housekeeper. 

The  educational  work  can  be  done  most  effectively  when 
individual  instruction  is  combined  with  group  instruction, 
and  needs  time  free  from  emergency  calls  in  order  to  function 
properly.  It  requires  a  thorough  background  of  general  and 
technical  knowledge  as  well  as  proficiency  in  technical  skill,  a 
tactful  and  effective  personality,  and  a  considerable  amount 
of  teaching  and  organizing  ability. 

The  emergency  housekeeping  assistance  for  maternity  cases 
and  cases  of  acute  illness  requires  working  efficiency  rather 
than  breadth  of  knowledge  or  teaching  ability,  as  does  also 
any  practical  service  provided  to  dirty  or  shiftless  families  as 


252  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

a  means  of  inculcating  better  living  habits.  Experience  shows 
that  such  actual  service  should  be  paid  for  by  the  family 
whenever  possible,  if  family  responsibility  is  to  be  maintained, 
and  that  there  is  but  rarely  sufficient  educational  value  in 
such  service  to  warrant  the  use  of  women  trained  according 
to  higher  standards  than  that  required  in  other  household 
employment  service. 

In  this  article  will  be  discussed  only  the  educational  type 
of  work  of  a  visiting  housekeeper;  work  which  is  now  being 
done  under  various  names  and  in  connection  with  various 
forms  of  educational  and  social  work.  The  term  "nutrition 
worker "  is  being  used  in  many  places  to  describe  the  service 
rendered  by  women  who  are  specialists  in  work  with  under- 
nourished children,  and  with  diabetic,  nephritic,  and  other 
cases  where  special  dietetic  supervision  is  necessary;  it  is 
also  being  extended  to  cover  work  being  done  in  connection 
with  health  centers,  child  welfare  centers,  and  other  centers 
where  instruction  in  individual  or  family  feeding  is  provided. 
The  terms  "home  economist,"  "home-making  adviser," 
"budget  consultant,"  "clothing  specialist,"  "household 
efficiency  expert,"  and  various  others  are  being  used  in  con- 
nection with  home  economics  work  established  in  family 
social  work  agencies,  savings  banks,  Americanization  centers, 
thrift  centers,  community  centers,  and  also  in  connection 
with  personal  work  established  as  an  independent  form  of  pro- 
fessional service. 

In  all  these  phases  of  home  economics  work  the  idea  of  per- 
sonal service  is  paramount  rather  than  merely  group  instruc- 
tion. In  the  past  the  untrained  woman  has  borne  the  burden 
of  making  necessary  adjustments  on  the  basis  of  general  in- 
structions; this  new  form  of  professional  work  makes  possible 
the  services  of  the  expert  in  advising  about  the  actual  ad- 
justments and  would  seem  to  be  a  distinct  step  in  advance 
in  securing  professional  recognition  of  the  importance  of 
home-making  according  to  the  best  possible  standards. 


THE  VISITING  HOUSEKEEPER  ,       ^  253 

Training  necessary 

As  yet  special  training  for  these  positions  is  not  being  given 
to  a  large  degree,  but  it  is  possible  to  secure  such  training  by 
the  special  arrangement  of  courses  in  many  universities  or 
colleges  giving  home  economics  courses,  especially  those 
where  there  is  close  affiliation  between  the  departments  of 
home  economics  and  the  departments  or  schools  of  social 
work,  such  as  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University;  Sim- 
mons College;  the  University  of  Chicago;  University  of  Wis- 
consin; and  the  University  of  Minnesota.  In  the  preparation 
of  nutrition  workers  it  is  also  desirable  to  have  close  affiliation 
between  home  economics  departments  and  the  medical 
schools. 

Financial  return 

At  the  present  time  the  work  is  in  its  pioneer  stages  and  it 
would  seem  that  the  upper  limit  of  advancement  has  not  as 
yet  been  set.  I  personally  am  recommending  that  $1200  a 
year  be  considered  a  minimum  salary  for  such  a  worker  and 
that  preferably  $1800  to  $2500  be  paid  by  any  health  or 
social  agency  desirous  of  securing  a  person  qualified  to  make 
a  success  of  the  work  being  undertaken. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  necessary  qualifications  for  success  would  seem  to  be  a 
considerable  amount  of  practical  ability,  a  real  interest  in 
people  and  their  welfare,  a  large  amount  of  tact  and  persever- 
ance plus  a  good  foundation  of  home  economics  and  social 
training. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  the  work  are  the  freedom  for  the  use  of 
personal  initiative,  the  real  human  interest,  and  the  tangible 
results  which  follow  successful  work,  and  the  opportunity 
for  marked  service  to  society.  The  disadvantages  in  compari- 


254  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

son  with  teaching  work  are  the  longer  hours,  the  shorter  va- 
cation period,  and  the  greater  physical  and  nervous  strain. 

Supply  and  demand 

Because  of  the  wide  variation  in  terminology  it  is  difficult 
to  give  accurate  statistics  concerning  the  extent  of  the  occu- 
pation at  the  present  time.  Within  the  last  few  years  has 
come  a  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  home  economics  work- 
ers in  connection  with  various  types  of  educational  and  social 
work,  and  with  the  greater  distinction  between  the  educa- 
tional service  and  the  actual  housekeeping  service  which  is 
now  being  made,  it  would  seem  that  there  would  soon  be  a 
more  intelligent  demand  for  the  services  of  trained  workers 
which  will  absorb  rapidly  the  present  available  supply. 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Dietitian  m  Social  Work"  — Lucy  H.  Gillett.    "The 

Modern  Hospital,"  January,  1919. 
"Training  the  Social  Service  Dietitian"  —  Emma  A.  Wins- 
low.  "The  Modem  Hospital,"  October,  1919. 
"An  Experiment  in  Socializing  Home  Economics  Education  " 

— Emma  A.  Winslow.    "Journal  of  Home  Economics," 

January,  1920. 
"The  New  Visiting  Housekeeper:  Her  Training  and  Her 

Work"  — Emma  A.  Winslow.    "The  Family,"  May, 
1920. 
"A  Nutrition  Class"  —  Mary  S.  Rose  and  Gertrude  Gates 

Mudge.  "  Journal  of  Home  Economics,"  February,  1920. 
"Nutrition    Classes    for   Children"  — Mary   A.    Harper. 

"Journal  of  Home  Economics,"  November,  1919. 
"Household  Management "  —  Florence  Nesbitt.  Social  Work 

Series,  Sage  Foundation,  1918. 


INDUSTRIAL  WORK 
THE  FACTORY  INSPECTOR  \ 

FRANCES  PERKINS 

Commissioner^  State  Industrial  Commission,  State  of  New  York 

Description  of  occupation 

A  FACTORY  inspector  is  one  who  inspects  factories,  mercan- 
tile establishments,  and  work  being  done  in  tenement  houses. 
She  is  required  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  labor  law  in 
such  establishments  relative  to  the  hours  of  labor,  employ- 
ment of  children,  provisions  of  the  day  of  rest  law,  to  issue 
orders  and  make  recommendations  relative  to  the  guarding 
of  machinery,  the  proper  installation  and  maintenance  of 
sanitary  conditions,  the  removal  of  dust,  gases,  and  fumes  by 
means  of  exhaust  system,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  general 
provisions  of  the  industrial  code. 

An  inspector  is  usually  assigned  to  a  district.  She  visits 
all  the  factories  in  the  district  regularly,  fills  out  such  report 
forms  as  are  provided,  and  is  compelled  to  make  a  survey  of 
the  buildings  and  the  factory  or  factories  located  therein.  On 
these  report  forms  she  indicates  such  orders  as  will  correct 
the  conditions  and  make  the  establishment  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  labor  law  and  industrial  code.  These  orders  are 
issued  and  must  be  explained  to  the  person,  or  persons,  in 
authority,  so  that  they  will  have  a  clear  understanding  of 
what  is  required  when  the  orders  are  received. 

After  a  specified  period  she  must  return  and  secure  com- 
pliance with  the  orders  issued.  If  the  firm  fails  to  comply 
with  the  orders  in  a  reasonable  time,  the  inspector  is  required 
to  secure  evidence  for  prosecution.  However,  the  real  test 
of  the  inspector's  ability  is  to  secure  compliance  within  the 
least  amount  of  time  and  without  prosecution. 


25Q  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

A  factory  inspector  is  also  called  upon  to  make  special  in- 
vestigations and  special  reports  on  individual  industries,  in- 
dividual buildings,  special  problems  in  safety,  and,  in  par- 
ticular, in  those  States  in  which  some  board  or  commission 
has  power  to  make  variations  or  exemptions  from  the  labor 
law,  she  must  make  investigations,  reports,  and  recommenda- 
tions, upon  the  basis  of  which  the  board  or  commission  having 
the  power  to  act,  will  take  its  action. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

A  FACTORY  inspector  should  have  a  good  general  education 
which  will  enable  her  to  stand  on  a  basis  of  equality  with  the 
average  employer  and  superintendent.  In  addition  to  this, 
she  should  possess  considerable  practical  knowledge  of  in- 
dustrial conditions  and  should  make  a  special  technical  study 
of  factory  architecture,  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  factory 
fire  protection,  factory  light,  ventilation,  and  sanitation.  She 
should  have  a  good  working  knowledge  of  machinery  in  order 
to  be  able  to  understand  the  purposes  of  any  given  machine 
and  the  dangers  of  accidents  which  it  presents  to  its  operator. 

She  should  also  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  problems  of 
human  hygiene  and  should  pay  particular  attention  to  in- 
dustrial hygiene,  in  order  to  be  able  to  recognize  conditions 
leading  to  the  deterioration  of  health  of  workers  and  to  make 
practical  suggestions  as  to  methods  of  promoting  industrial 
sanitation. 

The  inspector  should  have  general  knowledge  of  the  various 
kinds  of  industrial  poisons  and  industrial  dusts,  specific  effects 
and  methods  of  preventing  harmful  results. 

The  inspector  should  have  a  substantial  knowledge  of  in- 
dustrial processes  and  production  methods,  and  an  under- 
standing of  at  least  fundamental  principles  of  economics. 

It  is  highly  desirable  that  an  inspector  should  be  able  to 
speak  at  least  some  of  the  languages  which  are  in  common  use 
among  the  working  people  of  this  country,  in  order  that  she 
may  be  able  to  gain  the  information  necessary  from  the  work- 


THE  FACTORY  INSPECTOR  257 

ers  and  to  secure  their  confidence  and  cooperation.  Italian, 
German,  Yiddish,  and  some  of  the  Slavic  dialects  are,  of 
course,  the  most  useful.  It  is  not,  of  course,  absolutely  essen- 
tial that  the  inspector  speak  these  languages,  but  the  in- 
spector who  does  know  even  a  smattering  of  these  languages 
is  at  a  considerable  advantage. 

It  is  also  highly  desirable  that  the  inspector  should  have 
such  training  as  will  enable  her  to  give  talks  and  lectures  on 
industrial  subjects,  such  as  safety,  hygiene,  the  meaning  of 
the  labor  law,  etc.,  to  groups  of  workers  and  to  groups  of  citi- 
zens generally  who  are  interested  and  desire  to  be  instructed 
on  such  subjects. 

There  are  no  schools  where  technical  courses  preparing 
individuals  to  become  factory  inspectors  are  given,  but  there 
are  a  number  of  institutions  of  learning  where  courses  are 
given  bearing  upon  one  or  another  of  the  subjects  which  are 
useful  to  inspectors  and  nearly  all  labor  departments  make 
some  effort  to  give  a  preliminary  course  of  instruction  to  their 
inspectors.  These  courses,  however,  are  feeble  and  should  not 
be  relied  upon  to  supply  the  inspector  with  the  knowledge 
and  training  which  she  needs.  The  necessary  training  and 
preparation  must  be  gained  by  the  individual  by  selecting 
such  courses  in  the  various  institutions  of  learning  as  seem  to 
bear  most  directly  upon  the  problems  of  industrial  safety, 
industrial  sanitation,  and  industrial  organization. 

A  prospective  inspector  will  find  her  preparation  for  her 
work  greatly  strengthened  if  during  her  undergraduate  college 
life  she  gets  a  well-rounded  scientific  training,  with  special 
reference  to  chemistry,  physics,  and  physiology.  These 
courses  not  only  give  her  the  technical  knowledge  which  she 
needs,  but  greatly  increase  her  powers  of  accurate  observa- 
tion. It  is  also  desirable  that  students  who  are  thinking  of 
inspectors'  work  should  take  at  least  one  course  in  economics, 
with  special  reference  to  labor  problems,  although  these 
courses  are  by  no  means  so  essential  to  the  satisfactory  work 
of  the  inspector  as  are  the  courses  which  give  her  the  more 


258  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

technical  knowledge.  The  various  engineering  schools  and 
institutes  of  technology  throughout  the  country  offer  valu- 
able courses,  most  of  which  are  now  open  to  women,  and  one 
year  spent  at  post-graduate  work  in  this  line  would  greatly 
augment  the  equipment  of  the  young  woman  looking  toward 
factory  inspection  as  a  career. 

The  Harvard  Medical  School  also  has  a  Department  of 
Industrial  Medicine  in  which  there  are  offered  a  number  of 
courses  on  industrial  hygiene  and  sanitation  which  would 
undoubtedly  be  open  to  women  who  are  attempting  to  qualify 
themselves  in  this  field. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  are  fair  opportunities  for  promotion  and  advancement 
in  this  field  of  work  in  the  United  States.  In  New  York  State 
there  is  provided  an  automatic  salary  increase  for  factory  in- 
spectors from  $1500  to  $2400  during  a  six-year  period  of 
service.  There  are  also  opportunities  of  advancement  in  the 
way  of  promotion  to  supervisory  positions  when  experience, 
service,  judgment,  and  executive  ability  warrant  such  ad- 
vancement. The  salaries  of  the  supervising  inspectors  are, 
of  course,  always  considerably  higher,  ranging  from  $3000  to 
$4000.  There  are  also  opportunities  in  many  States  for 
promotion  of  qualified  factory  inspectors  into  special  investi- 
gators in  the  divisions  or  bureaus  of  industrial  hygiene,  in 
the  divisions  or  bureaus  of  women  in  industry,  in  which  the 
salary  ranges  are  somewhat  higher  than  in  the  inspector's 
grades. 

There  are  also  many  opportunities  for  advancement  into 
important  positions  outside  of  the  regular  governmental  de- 
partments for  the  regulation  of  factories.  There  is  a  wide 
field  for  safety  and  welfare  work  in  industry  generally,  in 
which  the  experience  and  training  of  a  factory  inspector  are 
important.  Moreover,  there  is  an  increasing  demand  for  in- 
dividuals with  a  knowledge  of  factory  organization  who  will 
undertake  the  supervision  of  the  personnel  and  production 


THE  FACTORY  INSPECTOR  259 

factors  in  industrial  organization.  The  factory  inspector's 
training,  experience,  and  contacts  make  such  opportunities 
open  to  her  from  time  to  time,  and  the  financial  rewards  in 
these  fields  are  as  great  as  the  personal  qualifications  and 
personal  success  of  the  individuals  warrant. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  paid  to  factory  inspectors  vary  throughout  the 
different  States;  probably  $1200  is  a  fair  average  of  what  a 
new  factory  inspector  earns,  and  most  States  provide  for  some 
opportunity  for  promotion  or  advancement  in  salary. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  FACTORY  inspector  should  have  excellent  health  and  a  ro- 
bust physique.  Some  athletic  ability  is  highly  desirable,  for 
some  of  the  inspections  which  women  will  be  called  upon  to 
undertake  involve  considerable  physical  stamina,  balance, 
poise,  etc.  She  should  have  a  bearing  which  is  both  courteous 
and  authoritative,  with  sufl&cient  strength  of  character  and 
dignity  to  gain  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  employers 
and  employees  in  the  community  in  which  she  works. 

A  factory  inspector  must  be  a  person  of  tact,  otherwise  by 
irritating  persons  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact,  she  may 
involve  the  department  which  she  represents  in  long  and 
tedious  prosecutions  in  order  to  secure  compliance  with  the 
law.  The  best  inspector  is  one  who  can  secure  compliance 
with  the  law  without  prosecutions. 

She  must  be  a  person  capable  of  making  decisions,  for  upon 
her  judgment  and  her  reports  will  rest  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant acts  of  the  department.  She  must  be  the  type  of  per- 
son who  is  a  quick  and  accurate  observer  and  an  equally  ac- 
curate reporter  of  facts. 

Advantages 

There  are  many  personal  advantages  in  the  work  of  a  factory 

inspector.  First,  it  gives  a  woman  a  very  wide  opportunity 


260  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

to  observe  the  progress  and  development  of  one  of  the  most 
important  phases  of  our  Hfe.  Second,  it  is  largely  an  outdoor 
job,  tending  to  keep  her  in  good  health.  Third,  it  is  varied. 
No  two  places  are  alike,  and  the  monotony  which  goes  with 
many  office  occupations  is  never  present.  Most  of  all,  it  is 
important  work.  Nothing  is  such  drudgery  to  the  educated 
and  intelligent  woman  as  to  do  work  which  is  insignificant 
in  its  meaning.  Factory  inspection  is  of  vast  importance,  not 
only  to  the  people  who  work  in  the  factories,  but  to  the  entire 
community,  and  such  work  well  done  may  be  looked  upon  as 
a  service  to  one's  country. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  no  accurate  figures  available  as  to  the  number  of 
factory  inspectors  or  the  demand  for  them.  However,  forty- 
five  States  have  factory  inspection  laws,  and  according  to  the 
last  reports,  the  total  number  of  inspectors'  positions  in  the 
various  States  is  as  follows:  Colorado,  4;  Connecticut,  4;  In- 
diana, 5;  Iowa,  2;  Kentucky,  4;  Louisiana,  2;  Michigan,  19; 
Minnesota,  17;  Missouri,  7;  New  York,  123;  Ohio,  35;  Ore- 
gon, 5;  Pennsylvania,  51;  South  Carolina,  3;  Tennessee,  2; 
Texas,  3;  Virginia,  2;  Washington,  7;  Wisconsin,  25. 

Suggested  reading 

"Factory  Inspection  in  Certain  European  Countries"  — 
George  M.  Price,  M.D.  U.S.  Department  of  Labor,  Bul- 
letin No.  142,  February,  1914. 

"Inspection  of  Factories  and  Workshops  in  the  United 
States"  — W.  F.  Willoughby.  U.S.  Department  of 
Labor,  Bulletin  No.  12,  September,  1897. 

"Modem  Factory"  —  George  M.  Price,  M.D.  574  pages. 
1914. 

New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission's  Re- 
port, January,  1913.   366  pages. 

"Safety  Fundamentals"  —  edited  by  R.  M.  Little.  206 
pages.  1920. 


INSTITUTIONAL  WORK 

THE  HOSTESS  IN  AN  INSTITUTION  FOR  GIRLS 

MABEL  SNOW  WORCESTER 

Hostess,  Franklin  Square  House,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

The  term  "hostess"  always  suggests  the  hospitality  of  the 
home,  be  it  large  or  small.  A  hostess  in  a  small  institution 
is  often  encumbered  with  the  financial  and  domestic  problems, 
m  which  case  a  business  and  domestic  science  training  would 
prove  most  valuable.  Should  her  field  be  large  enough  to 
warrant  heads  of  these  departments,  she  may  be  considered 
as  responsible  for  only  the  social  problems  of  the  home.  The 
term  "social"  is  being  used  in  its  broadest  sense,  including 
therein  entertainment  and  sociability,  as  well  as  the  general 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  welfare  of  its  guests. 

'The  actual  work  accomplished  by  a  hostess  must,  of  course, 
depend  upon  the  kind  of  institution  over  which  she  may  pre- 
side, and  the  number  of  guests  whom  she  may  serve.  The 
writer  has  the  privilege  of  extending  to  over  eight  hundred 
young  women  the  friendliness  and  comforts  of  a  home.  If 
they  are  well  and  happy,  she  may  need  only  to  give  to  them  a 
cheerful  greeting,  and  to  see  that,  through  her  corps  of  work- 
ers, their  material  wants  are  supplied;  and  also  that  they  meet 
other  guests  who  in  time  may  become  congenial  friends.  If 
they  are  ill,  she  sees  that  they  receive  medical  attention  and 
a  nurse's  care,  all  of  which  in  this  particular  institution  is 
without  additional  expense  to  its  guests.  If  they  are  in  sor- 
row, she  comforts  them.  If  they  need  a  friend,  she  is  there  to 
be  that  friend.  If  they  wish  diversion,  it  is  hers  to  provide  en- 
tertainment, socials,  and  dances.  If  they  err,  she  advises,  and 
tries  to  guide  them  aright. 


262  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Similar  positions  have  received  the  title  of  superintendent, 
and  still  others  have  been  known  as  house-mothers.  The  latter 
is  a  title  one  might  crave  the  most.  It  brings  one  closer  to 
her  girls,  but  in  a  home  for  young  women  of  various  ages,  the 
title  of  hostess  expresses  best  the  nature  of  her  relation  to  her 
family.  It  is  a  happy  cross  between  the  cold,  stem  term  of 
superintendent,  and  the  indulgent  mother,  and  yet  it  must 
at  times  include  the  qualities  of  both. 

The  hostess  must  be  a  woman  of  tact,  ready  to  cope  with 
whatever  comes.  She  must  have  a  tender  heart  and  a  con- 
stitution of  iron,  for  she  must  be  always  "on  the  job";  seven 
days  a  week,  and  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night.  The  confine- 
ment of  such  a  position  may  be  one  of  its  drawbacks,  and  yet, 
if  one  loves  her  work,  and  has  not  too  many  outside  demands 
upon  her  time,  the  confinement  may  become  a  pleasant  habit. 

Qualifications 

To  meet  these  obligations  one  must  be  a  close  student  of  the 
biggest  of  all  books,  "The  Book  of  Human  Nature."  She 
must  be  keen  of  eye,  kindly  and  quick  in  judgment,  and  a 
.  sympathetic  listener.  She  must  have  the  understanding  which 
comes  only  to  those  who  have  suffered.  In  order  to  maintain 
her  position  without  too  great  a  demand  upon  her  health  and 
her  courage,  she  must  have  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  and  a  fair 
sense  of  the  relative  importance  of  the  diflficulties  which  arise 
in  the  daily  pathways  of  her  guests.  To  one  hostess,  the  train- 
ing received  in  a  College  of  Oratory  has  proved  greatly  to  her 
advantage,  for  she  often  finds  herself  responsible  for  public 
gatherings,  and  she  must  address  audiences. 

The  world  is  full  of  would-be  house-mothers  and  hostesses. 
A  cultured  woman  with  a  practical  training,  and  a  knowledge 
and  love  for  girls,  might  readily  adjust  herself  to  the  duties  of 
such  a  position.  The  broader  her  education  and  advantages 
have  been,  the  better  equipped  she  will  prove  to  be  as  the 
eflScient  head  of  any  institution. 

A  girl  just  out  of  college  had  best  test  her  ability  along  the 


THE  INSTITUTION  MANAGER  263 

line  of  "big  sisterhood"  for  a  season,  if  it  is  her  desire  to  ulti- 
mately become  a  hostess.  The  mature  judgment  of  a  woman 
of  thirty  is  needed  to  wisely  meet  the  problems  in  the  lives  of 
others. 

In  brief,  "the  hostess  of  an  institution"  should  have  execu- 
tive ability,  a  business  head,  domestic  training,  a  kindly 
heart,  good  judgment,  a  sincerity  of  purpose,  a  gracious  man- 
ner, and  the  ability  to  express  herself.  One  may  be  bom  a 
hostess,  but  she  must  receive  her  training  in  the  "School  of 
Life"! 

Financial  return 

Remuneration  for  such  a  position  will,  of  course,  vary  ac- 
cording to  the  size  and  wealth  of  the  institution.  A  house- 
mother's salary  may  be  as  low  as  $600  and  home  for  nine 
months  of  the  year,  while  a  superintendent  or  hostess  of  a 
large  institution  should  receive  at  least  $2000  and  home  for 
twelve  months,  with  one  month's  vacation. 


THE  INSTITUTION  MANAGER 

FANNIE  FRENCH  MORSE 

Superintendent,  Minnesota  Home  School  for  Oirla 

Description  of  occupation  and  actual  work  done 
(1)  Executive  department: 
Superintendent 
Assistant  superintendent 
Steward 
Accountant 

Clerks  and  stenographers 
Secretary  and  statistician 

The  superintendent,  acting  under  an  executive  board,  is 
the  constructive  force  of  the  institution;  she  plans  its  build- 
ings; formulates  its  interests  and  poHcies;  initiates  and  con- 
trols its  finances;  employs  and  controls  its  helpers;  acts  as 


264  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

court  of  appeal  to  employees  and  inmates;  is  the  executive, 
financial,  and  disciplinary  head;  determines  public  contact 
for  the  institution;  and  standardizes  its  legislation. 

The  assistant  superintendent  supplements  and  supports, 
helping  to  effect  the  policies  of  the  superintendent. 

The  steward  receives  and  distributes  to  the  different  de- 
partments all  the  supplies  of  the  institution. 

The  accountant  is  the  bookkeeper  of  the  buying  and  selling 
accounts  of  the  institution. 

Clerks  and  stenographers  act  as  assistants  in  a  similar 
capacity  to  like  positions  outside  the  institution. 

The  secretary  and  statistician  has  general  charge  of  all 
correspondence  and  statistics,  and,  in  this  institution,  acts 
as  publicity  agent. 

(2)  Community  department: 

Director 
Field  workers 

The  director,  acting  with  the  superintendent,  formulates 
policies  and  supervises  the  assistants  or  commimity  or  field 
workers,  whose  duties  are  to  study  backgrounds;  investigate 
the  homes  from  which  the  inmates  come  and  those  to  which 
they  may  go  when  placed  out;  to  visit,  direct,  and  readjust 
the  inmate  to  after  or  community  life. 

(3)  Educational  department: 
academic 
home  arts 

Supervisor   I  occupational  arts 
Instructors     music 

recreation 

physical  culture 

The  supervisor,  advising  with  the  superintendent,  assem- 
bles and  controls  all  the  educational  arts  named. 

The  instructors  have  positions  similar  to  fike  positions  out- 
side the  institution. 


THE  INSTITUTION  MANAGER  265 


(4) 


Hospital  Department: 

psychiatrist 

Physicians 

nose 

Nurses 

eye 

Specialists 

ear 

teeth 

The  work  of  the  hospital  force  is  similar  to  that  of  any  hos- 
pital departmentr 

(5)  Agricultural  department: 

Farm  superintendent 

Horticulturist 

Gardeners 

Herdswoman 

Keepers  of  stock 

Keepers  of  small  stock,  poultry,  hogs,  etc. 

The  farm  superintendent,  advising  with  the  superintend- 
ent, formulates  policies  for  the  farm  department;  hires,  con- 
trols, and  discharges  farm  employees;  and  supervises  all  the 
agricultural  departments. 

The  herdswoman  has  cha,rge  of  the  dairy  bam  and  super- 
vises all  dairy  operations. 

The  head  gardener  lays  out  the  gardens  and  supervises 
deputies,  who,  in  turn,  supervise  groups  of  inmates  in  garden- 
ing. 

Stock  keepers  direct  groups  of  inmates  in  the  care  of  stock. 

(6)  Food  department: 

General  supervisor  or  dietitian 
Food  conserver 

The  general  supervisor  receives,  distributes,  and  directs 
the  use  of  all  food  supplies  in  the  institution.  The  culinary 
departments  and  food  service  in  the  various  cottage  kitchens 
are  under  her  supervision. 

The  food  conserver  directs  the  inmates  in  the  canning  and 
drying  of  vegetables,  butter  and  cheese  making,  etc. 


266  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

(7)  Housing  units: 

House-mothers  or  cottage  managers 
Assistants  to  house-mothers 

The  house-mothers  have  charge  of  the  family  cottages. 
Each  is  responsible  for  the  management  and  atmosphere,  and 
is  the  supreme  influence  and  disciplinary  head  of  her  cottage 
group;  she  is  responsible  not  only  for  the  inmates  in  her  cot- 
tage, but,  to  a  degree,  for  her  assistant  helpers.  The  house- 
mother must  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  household  and 
home-making  arts.  (Some  institutions  maintain  other  depart- 
ments varying  with  their  policies :  millinery,  dressmaking,  and 
other  vocations.) 

The  assistant  to  the  house-mother  assumes  direction  of  the 
kitchen  or  domestic  science  department  in  the  cottage;  and, 
in  an  institution  of  pure  cottage  system,  the  practical  teach- 
ing of  cookery  and  similar  arts  usually  supplants  the  central 
domestic  science  department. 

Preparation  for  training  necessary 

Up  to  date  there  is  no  school  known  to  the  writer  which  gives 
a  practical  training  for  institutional  work.  Such  a  school  is 
the  great  need,  but,  since  actual  contact  with  the  working 
problem  alone  can  constitute  a  practical  training,  the  material- 
ization of  such  a  school  would  be  most  difficult.  Up  to  date 
the  institution  itself  represents  the  only  specific  training 
school  for  institutional  training.  Supplementary  to  this  is 
the  training  which  our  schools  of  philanthropy  represent  in 
their  sociological  phases. 

No  definite  length  of  training  can  be  prescribed.  The  apt- 
ness of  the  individual  must  be  the  determinative  factor. 

With  such  training  in  view  the  undergraduate  may  well 
major  in  studies  pertaining  to  social  economics:  sociology, 
civics,  American  history,  agriculture,  and  the  natural  sciences. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

To  the  person  bom  to  it,  institutional  work  to-day  represents 

a  large  opportunity. 


THE  INSTITUTION  MANAGER  267 

Financial  return 

With  the  sliding  scale  which  the  confusion  in  the  wage  world 
to-day  represents,  the  fixing  of  a  minimum  or  maximum  is 
impossible.  With  the  growing  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  the  right  kind  of  institutional  organization  it  is  safe  to  say- 
that  the  financial  return  will  be  commensurate  with  the  ability 
or  ejQSciency  of  the  individual. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

An  understanding  mind;  strong  in  wholesome  sympathy  as 
differentiated  from  sentiment;  flexible;  tolerant;  with  a  sense 
of  humor.  One  of  abiding  faith  in  the  ultimate  good;  one  pos- 
sessing the  rare  ability  of  lending  self;  one,  captain  of  herself, 
since  the  control  of  others  in  its  highest  sense  comes  only 
from  those  who  have  learned  self-control.  Added  to  these 
natural  qualifications  should  be  skill  in  the  department  sought, 
and,  better  still,  an  experience  which  has  broadened  and 
widened  social  contact  with  its  resultant  viewpoint  on  rela- 
tive values. 

Advantages 

The  right  institution  has  many  advantages:  home  life;  good 
living;  continuous  employment;  sure  financial  return;  small 
personal  expenditure  with  a  resultant  definite  estimate  on 
saving;  in  its  variety  and  uniqueness  of  employment,  a  pro- 
tection from  routine;  much  out  of  doors;  regular  hours;  and 
greatest  of  all,  a  contact  with  a  group  which,  though  not  so- 
cially supreme,  offers  compensation  in  sincerity  and  real 
worth- whileness.  Nowhere  can  there  be  a  more  interesting 
study  of  human  beings  than  among  the  disadvantaged  group 
in  our  corrective  and  reformative  institutions. 

Disadvantages 

Frequently  a  remoteness  from  the  social  life  of  the  com- 
munity; a  schedule  of  hours,  while  not  long,  so  distributed  as 
to  prevent  long  daily  periods  of  absence,  but  which,  under  the 


268  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

eight-hour  law  now  prevailing  in  State  institutions,  finds 
partial  compensation  in  regular  weekly  days  off.  A  certain 
personal  isolation  and  a  limited  social  horizon  probably  the 
greatest  disadvantages. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Demand  and  supply  —  Localities 
The  nicest  problem  of  the  head  of  an  institution  should  be  the 
right  worker.  For  the  fit  institutional  worker  there  is  great 
demand.  More  and  more  is  it  being  recognized  that  institu- 
tional work  calls  for  the  worker  of  superior  quality.  This 
recognition  has  become  a  force  for  greater  financial  return. 
Such  standardization  of  the  worker  and  her  compensation  has 
created  a  demand  and  an  attraction  that  promise  to  be  per- 
sistent. 

Since  the  Middle  and  Farther  West  are  the  localities  which 
to-day  are  effecting  the  most  progressive  thought  in  institu- 
tional life  and  building,  the  greatest  demand  will  be  in  these 
parts  of  the  country. 

For  the  helper  with  the  right  vision,  coupled  with  the  en- 
ergy to  bend  to  service,  the  horizon  for  the  worker  in  this 
field  lifts  to  unlimited  boundaries. 

That  our  institution,  with  a  moving  population  of  over  six 
hundred  girls,  is  to-day  employing  nearly  one  hundred  help- 
ers will  gauge  somewhat  the  number  who  are,  or  should  be, 
in  the  field. 

Suggested  reading 

One  of  the  great  needs  to-day  is  a  progressive,  practical  book 
on  institutional  management.  To  the  writer's  knowledge  such 
a  one  does  not  exist.  There  have  been  two  or  three  superficial 
attempts,  but,  beyond  that,  nothing.  Aside  from  the  works 
of  the  best  sociological  writers  and,  of  course,  "The  Survey," 
which  is  the  organ  of  the  philanthropic  and  social  agencies, 
perhaps  the  most  practical  reading  would  be  the  different 
essays  by  institutional  managers  incorporated  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  National  Conferences  of  Social  Workers,  or  the 


THE  INSTITUTION  MANAGER  269 

National  Conferences  on  the  Education  of  Backward,  De- 
linquent, and  Defective  Children.  But  since  these  as  often 
point  to  what  not  to  do  as  to  what  to  do,  they  can  be  profitably 
read  only  by  those  of  understanding  mind. 


INSURANCE 
THE  LXFE-mSURANCE  SALESMAN 

CORINNE  V.  LOOMIS 

Manager  Women's  Department 
The  Penn  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

Insurance  investments  consist  of  gilt-edge  bonds  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  State,  and  most  progressive  municipali- 
ties. Insurance  funds  have  been  the  means  of  financing  many 
enterprises,  such  as  the  building  of  railroads  and  irrigation  of 
arid  lands.  Insurance  investments  are  supervised  and  regu- 
lated by  Government  control  more  rigidly  than  trust  com- 
panies and  as  rigidly  as  savings  banks. 

Life  insurance  has  been  called  the  greatest  business  in  the 
world.  You  can  readily  see  the  reason  for  this  if  you  will 
consider  the  fact  that  every  life  represents  an  economic  value. 
If  anything  occurs  to  cut  off  the  earning  capacity  of  this  life, 
there  is  a  total  loss  to  the  community  and  family  except  for 
life  insurance.  Life  insurance  is  a  means  of  estate  building 
which  is  accessible  to  all  individuals  who  are  physically  fit;  it 
has  an  advantage  over  all  other  estates  in  that  it  may  be  pur- 
chased on  the  installment  plan. 

Economists  advise  insurance  as  the  first  method  of  saving 
because  they  maintain  it  is  the  safest  and  most  scientific.  A 
popular  word  which  appeals  to  our  vision  and  imagination  is 
cooperation.  The  highest  example  of  cooperation  which  the 
civilized  world  can  show  to-day  is  the  existence  and  service  of 
life  insurance. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  time  spent  in  preparing  to  sell  insurance  depends  to  a 

large  extent  upon  the  individual.  The  preparation  for  insur- 


THE  LIFE-INSURANCE  SALESMAN  271 

ance  selling  seems  relatively  short.  A  very  successful  insur- 
ance sales  manager  declares  that  any  one  who  sells  any  in- 
surance in  less  than  six  months  of  intensive  training  did  so 
accidentally.  Often  a  person  of  unusual  ability  and  energy 
will  become  productive  in  less  time  than  this. 

The  training  consists  in  intensive  courses:  (1)  on  the  fun- 
damentals of  life  insurance;  (2)  principles  of  applied  sales- 
manship. This  training  is  carefully  supervised  for  at  least 
six  months.  The  practical  knowledge  of  salesmanship  is 
gained  by  two  means,  practice  selling  and  supervised  out- 
side work. 

The  courses  which  one  may  take  in  college  which  would  be 
of  greatest  assistance  are  courses  in  economics,  applied  psy- 
chology, salesmanship,  and  insurance. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  success  in  insurance  as  a  profession  are 
manifold.  You  are  not  bound  to  any  city,  town,  or  country. 
If  you  are  a  real  salesman  you  can  be  dropped  from  an  air- 
plane in  any  civilized  locality  and  earn  your  living.  You  are 
not  tied  to  any  time  clock.  Herein  lies  your  greatest  boon  and 
gravest  danger.  You  must  have  the  perseverance  to  hold 
yourself  rigidly  to  a  specified  number  of  hours  of  work  a 
day. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  opportunities  for  the  college  or  trained  woman  in  in- 
surance are  greater  than  in  any  other  line  of  business  in 
which  she  can  engage.  One  should  possess  initiative  as  well 
as  a  trained  mind.  Also  enthusiasm,  adaptability,  and  a 
vision  of  social  service. 

These  are  what  we  may  call  innate  qualities.  You  may  tell 
me  that  any  one  possessing  these  qualifications  can  succeed 
at  anything.  I  agree  with  you  perfectly,  but  the  spiritual, 
mental,  and  financial  satisfaction  which  may  be  gained  from 
applying  these  qualifications  to  insurance  as  a  profession  is 


272  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

greater  than  if  these  qualifications  were  applied  to  anything 
else. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  number  of  trained  women  in  insurance,  as  compared  with 

any  other  profession,  is  relatively  small. 


LAW 

THE  CORONER 

GRACE  M.  NORRIS,  M.D. 

Coroner^  County  of  Oneida,  Utica,  New  York 

Description  of  occupation 

A  CORONER  has  to  look  after  and  inquire  into  all  matters  con- 
cerning persons  slain,  or  who  have  died  mysteriously;  sub- 
poena witnesses;  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  all  the  facts  in 
regard  to  the  death,  and  issue  warrants  for  arrest  of  parties, 
presumed  to  be  guilty,  to  be  held  for  the  grand  jury,  and  to 
report  to  the  district  attorney.  A  coroner  is  elected  for  three 
years.  There  are  four  coroners  to  each  county. 

Preparation  necessary 

No  special  training  is  required.  The  law  does  not  state  that 

a  coroner  shall  be  a  physician  or  layman.    The  coroner  is 

elected  by  the  votes  of  the  county.  A  college  education  and  a 

knowledge  of  law  and  medicine  are  valuable  helps,  but  not 

necessary. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  no  opportunity  for  advancement  for  a  coroner. 

Financial  return 

The  remuneration  depends  upon  the  number  of  cases  the 
coroner  is  called  upon  to  hold  inquests  over.  Some  counties 
pay  a  salary  instead  of  fees.  Coroners  earn  from  $80  to 
$4000  a  year.  It  depends  to  a  large  extent  upon  the  size  of 
the  population,  and  if  canals,  street  cars,  railroads,  automo- 
biles, etc.,  are  near,  to  cause  fatal  accidents.  In  rural  sections 
fewer  accidents  occur,  therefore  fees  are  less.   If  there  are 


«74  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

several  coroners  in  the  same  city  or  section,  where  one  has 
to  depend  upon  fees,  it  is  a  serious  handicap  financially. 

Reading 

One  may  obtain  volumes  touching  upon  this  branch  in  any 

law  library. 


THE  CORPORATION  LAWYER 

REBA  TALBOT  SWAIN,  B.A.,  J.D. 

Description  of  occupation 

The  very  nature  of  a  corporation  renders  it  fascinating  to 
one  with  a  creative  imagination.  Human  lives  are  destined 
to  end  sooner  or  later;  corporate  life  may  go  on  ad  infinitum 
if  its  creators  so  ordain  and  those  who  are  interested  in  it  so 
desire.  The  original  incorporators  have  it  in  their  power  to 
determine  whether  the  duration  of  the  corporation  shall  be 
perpetual  or  continue  for  a  term  of  years. 

The  first  thing  the  corporation  lawyer  masters  is  the  art  of 
drawing  certificates  of  incorporation.  He  or  she  must  leam 
to  discriminate  among  various  kinds  of  organizations  and  in- 
corporate each  one  under  the  law  best  suited  to  its  character 
and  purposes.  When  a  company  contemplates  doing  business 
in  more  than  one  State,  the  wise  lawyer  selects  as  the  State  of 
incorporation  the  one  whose  laws  best  adapt  themselves  to 
the  needs  of  the  particular  corporation.  After  the  corpora- 
tion has  been  properly  organized  under  the  laws  of  its  mother 
State,  the  next  need  is  to  see  that  it  is  properly  licensed  in 
each  of  the  various  States  in  which  it  wishes  to  do  business. 

The  lawyer  must  watch  the  corporation  closely  during  the 
first  year  of  its  existence,  being  sure  that  all  statutes  are  con- 
formed to. 

Another  part  of  the  work  is  to  take  care  of  all  the  tax  mat- 
ters of  the  corporation:  franchise,  personal,  real  estate,  in- 
come, and  other  taxes. 


THE  CORPORATION  LAWYER  275 

The  dissolution  and  reorganization  of  companies  form  in- 
teresting parts  of  this  work. 

Training  necessary 

The  training  for  this  work  includes  the  ordinary  law  course 
leading  to  admission  to  the  bar.  Almost  all  law  schools  of 
any  importance  are  now  open  to  women.  Since  a  corporation 
lawyer  must  necessarily  be  a  person  of  sound  fundamental 
education,  it  is  advisable  to  complete  a  college  course  before 
commencing  the  study  of  law.  The  regular  three  years*  course 
leading  to  a  degree  must  follow.  A  lawyer  does  not  begin  to 
specialize  until  he  is  engaged  in  actual  practice;  therefore,  the 
law  course  is  essentially  the  same  for  all  prospective  members 
of  the  bar. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  rest  almost  entirely  with 
the  individual.  A  young  woman  newly  admitted  to  the  bar  is 
wise  to  associate  herself  with  a  well-established  firm  of  law- 
yers. In  such  association,  if  she  shows  that  she  possesses 
ability  and  personality,  the  opportunities  for  advancement 
are  unlimited.  Eventually  after  she  has  acquired  a  definite 
clientele  she  may  go  out  for  herself  or  she  may  be  glad  to  re- 
main with  those  who  made  her  success  possible.  If  she  does 
the  latter,  she  will  undoubtedly  occupy  an  important  place 
among  them.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  young  woman  lawyer 
opens  her  own  oflice  at  once  or  attempts  to  practice  law  alone, 
she  will  find  herself  seriously  handicapped  and  a  long  way 
from  becoming  a  corporation  lawyer. 

Financial  return 

Corporation  law  is  reputed  to  be  the  field  in  which  the  great- 
est financial  return  is  realized.  Granted  that  this  is  an  ex- 
aggeration, nevertheless  one  who  is  bright  enough  and  am- 
bitious enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  men  and  women  of 
big  business,  and  thereby  obtain  among  her  corporate  clients 


276  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

several  big  and  moneyed  firms,  will  certainly  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  keeping  "the  wolf  from  the  door." 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  young  woman  who  desires  to  enter  the  legal  profession 
must  possess  first  of  all  a  strong  and  charming  personality. 
Without  being  aggressive  she  must  be  forceful  enough  to 
make  her  influence  felt  among  those  with  whom  she  comes  in 
contact.  She  must  also  maintain  an  untiring  interest  in  her 
work  and  put  it  ahead  of  almost  everything  else. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  corporation  law  are  manifold.  The  cor- 
poration lawyer  comes  in  contact  with  influential  and  brainy 
people.  The  work  itself  is  clean  and  delightful.  The  lawyer 
controls  her  own  hours,  but  if  she  is  going  to  make  her  pro- 
fession worth  while  her  hours  will  be  long  and  her  persever- 
ance never-ending. 

The  number  of  women  lawyers  is  constantly  increasing. 
There  are  some  who,  through  their  adaptability  to  their  work, 
their  love  of  it,  and  their  consequent  achievement,  are  making 
come  true  the  dreams  of  those  splendid  women  who  with  broad 
vision  and  grim  determination  rendered  it  possible  for  women 
to  do  what  to-day  they  are  doing.  The  young  woman  who 
desires  to  practice  law  must  look  forward  to  a  life  of  service, 
yet  of  untold  gratification  and  joy,  and  must  strive  always 
to  live  up  to  the  ideals  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  noblest  pro- 
fessions in  the  world. 

THE  LEGAL  EDITOR 

EMMA  EATON  WHITE 

President  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Indiana  Women 

Description  of  occupation 

Legal  editorial  work  is  usually  done  in  connection  with  a 

law-book  publishing  house.  Private  individuals  who  "write" 


THE  LEGAL  EDITOR  277 

treatises  on  different  topics  of  the  law  invariably  send  it  to 
a  law  publishing  house  to  be  printed  and  marketed  and  in- 
variably their  work  is  edited  to  conform  to  accepted  standards. 
If  the  completed  work  is  readily  salable,  it  is  because  trained 
hands  have  put  it  in  such  shape  that  it  is  available  to  a  hur- 
ried lawyer.  A  good  index  must  be  written  and  only  trained 
editors  know  how  to  write  a  good  index  that  will  omit  no  im- 
portant point. 

Law-book  publishing  houses  keep  textbook  writers  on  their 
regular  staff.  By  careful  watching  of  the  pulse  of  the  legal 
profession  through  their  salesmen,  they  determine  when  a 
new  textbook  is  needed  and  immediately  advertise  it  and 
take  orders  before  it  is  written,  to  keep  others  out  of  the  field. 

Publishing  houses  also  prepare  codes,  statutes,  annotated 
statutes,  and  digests  for  different  States  and  then  keep  them 
up  to  date.  The  work  of  preparing  a  digest,  for  instance, 
means  collecting  all  the  syllabus  paragraphs  of  all  the  deci- 
sions of  the  courts  of  a  given  State,  classifying  them  under 
a  standard  digest  classification  scheme,  writing  voluminous 
cross-references  from  one  topic  to  another,  making  an  anal- 
ysis of  each  topic,  and  finally  making  a  table  of  cases  in  al- 
phabetical order. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  preparation  for  this  involves,  first,  the  usual  training  to 
begin  the  practice  of  law,  a  thorough  familiarity  with  the 
topics  of  law;  second,  an  elementary  course  in  writing  syllabus 
paragraphs  to  acquire  brevity  and  clarity  of  style,  so  that  sen- 
tences will  contain  every  necessary  word  to  cover  the  legal 
proposition  and  no  unnecessary  word;  third,  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  distinction  and  difference  between  topics  of 
law,  and  ability  to  analyze  syllabus  paragraphs  critically. 

The  only  training  school  I  know  of  is  actual  work  in  a  pub- 
lishing house.  The  West  Publishing  Company  of  St.  Paul 
furnishes  the  best  opportunity,  for  they  publish  the  Reporter 
System,  and  start  their  new  editors  writing  syllabus  para- 
graphs for  the  Reporters,  under  strict  supervision. 


278  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

Compensation  ranges  from  $1200  to  $3500  per  year. 

THE  MAGISTRATE 

JEAN  H.  NORRIS,  LL.B.,  LL.M. 

City  Magistrate^  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

In  New  York  City,  which  comprises  the  five  boroughs  con- 
stituting Greater  New  York,  there  are  thirty-one  magis- 
trates* courts.  The  judges  who  preside  in  these  courts  rotate 
from  one  to  another.  They  usually  "sit"  in  each  court  for 
^ve  days,  except  in  what  are  termed  special  courts,  and  in 
this  way  make  the  "circuit."  The  special  courts  are  the 
Women's  Day  Court,  Domestic  Relations  Court,  Traffic 
Court,  Probation  Court,  Men's  Night  Court,  and  Municipal 
Term. 

The  writer,  who  is  the  first  and  only  woman  judge  or  mag- 
istrate in  New  York  State,  and  probably  the  only  woman 
judge  with  similar  powers  and  jurisdiction  in  the  United 
States,  rotates  between  the  Women's  Day  Court  and  the 
Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  usually  presiding  for  fifteen  con- 
secutive days  in  each  court.  The  magistrates'  courts,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Traffic  Court,  Municipal  Term,  and  the 
Court  of  Domestic  Relations,  are  open  every  day  in  the  year, 
Sundays  and  holidays  included. 

Under  the  law  in  New  York  State  a  lawyer  must  have 
practiced  three  or  more  years  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
appointment.  The  writer  had  been  engaged  in  active  practice 
for  ten  years  before  Mayor  Hylan  appointed  her  in  October, 
1919,  to  the  Bench.  Her  term  runs  until  1927,  and  the  com- 
pensation is  $8000  a  year.  The  magistrates'  courts  are  what 
are  termed  courts  of  inferior  criminal  jurisdiction.  No  civil 
cases  are  heard. 

In  the  Women's  Day  Court,  which  opened  in  the  spring  of 


THE  MAGISTRATE  279 

1919,  as  a  continuation  of  the  old  Night  Court,  which  court 
then  went  out  of  existence,  only  women  prisoners  are  ar- 
raigned. No  men  are  tried  there.  When  men  appear  in  a  case, 
they  are  called  as  witnesses  either  for  the  prosecution  or  the 
defense.  The  court  has  jurisdiction  over  girls  between  the  ages 
of  sixteen  and  twenty-one  who  are  charged  with  incorrigibility, 
that  is,  "associating  with  vicious  and  dissolute  persons  and 
liable  to  become  morally  depraved."  The  complaint  is  usually 
made  by  the  parents,  who  allege  that  they  can  no  longer  con- 
trol the  girl,  that  she  stays  out  late  at  night,  associates  with 
evil  companions,  and  that  she  refuses  to  work.  The  youth- 
ful offenders  are  never  put  in  the  Detention  Prison.  They 
are  sent  to  the  Florence  Crittenton  Home,  or  to  Waverley 
House  pending  trial  and  investigation.  The  physical  exam- 
ination which  is  made  by  a  woman  physician  only  too  fre- 
quently shows  that  the  girl  is  suffering  from  some  form  of 
venereal  disease.  The  parents  are  shocked  to  find  that  what 
they  supposed  was  waywardness  in  their  daughter  has  devel- 
oped into  commercialized  prostitution.  The  usual  procedure 
is  to  put  the  girl  on  probation  for  six  months  and  permit  her  to 
go  home  with  her  parents.  This  means  putting  her  on  her  good 
behavior  for  that  period  of  time.  She  reports  to  the  probation 
officer  once  a  week,  either  by  letter  or  personal  call,  and  the 
probation  officer  advises  and  counsels  with  her.  In  the  ma- 
jority of  cases  probation  works  out  splendidly.  The  girl, 
realizing  the  vileness  of  the  mode  of  life  she  was  entering  upon, 
is  only  too  happy  to  be  released  and  reunited  with  her  family. 
In  some  instances  the  parents  request  that  the  girl  be  sent  to 
an  institution  in  order  to  get  her  away  from  the  influence  of 
her  companions. 

Many  shoplifters  are  brought  into  the  courts.  They  are 
charged  with  petty  larceny,  that  is,  stealing  from  dry-goods 
stores  where  the  amount  is  not  in  excess  of  $50.  In  these 
cases  the  arrests  are  made  by  women  detectives  employed 
by  the  stores.  No  one  is  ever  arrested  in  the  store.  This  pre- 
caution is  taken  to  avoid  the  danger  of  arresting  a  woman 


280  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

who  intended  to  pay  for  some  article  she  picked  up  to  look 
at.  The  arrests  are  always  made  in  the  street  after  the 
woman  has  concealed  the  goods,  walked  out  of  the  store,  and 
is  some  feet  away  from  it. 

The  majority  of  cases  which  come  into  the  Women's  Court 
are  those  of  prostitution,  soliciting  and  loitering  upon  the 
public  streets  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution,  and  prostitution 
in  tenement  houses.  Sometimes  the  trials  in  these  cases  are 
very  lengthy  and  many  witnesses  are  examined.  After  the 
defendant  is  convicted,  forty-eight  hours  must  elapse  before 
sentence  is  passed.  The  first  step  taken  is  to  have  the  prisoner 
finger-printed.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether 
or  not  she  had  been  convicted  previously.  Then  she  is  physi- 
cally examined  by  the  woman  physician  who  is  on  the  staff  of 
the  Board  of  Health  and  especially  assigned  to  the  court.  She 
takes  the  blood  and  several  other  tests  to  discover  whether  or 
not  the  girl  is  suffering  from  any  form  of  venereal  disease. 
The  girl's  history  is  taken  by  the  probation  officer,  who  after- 
wards goes  out  and  checks  up  everything  she  has  been  told. 
When  the  defendant  comes  into  court  for  sentence,  the  judge 
has  a  great  deal  of  data  to  guide  her  in  passing  sentence,  the 
Finger-Print  Bureau's  record,  certificate  from  the  Board  of 
Health  as  to  venereal  disease  symptoms,  and  the  probation 
officer's  report.  If  she  is  a  first  or  second  offender,  she  is  placed 
on  probation.  If  she  has  offended  more  than  twice,  she  is 
sent  to  an  institution  for  girls.  The  Catholics  are  sent  to  the 
House  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  the  Protestants  to  the  House  of 
Mercy,  and  Protestants,  Catholics,  and  Jews  to  Inwood 
House.  The  older,  or  more  hardened  offenders,  are  sent  to  the 
City  Prison  at  Blackwell's  Island.  If  the  defendant  is  a  drug 
addict,  she  is  sent  to  the  hospital  for  six  or  eight  weeks'  treat- 
ment before  trial.  She  voluntarily  commits  herself.  The  girls 
are  only  too  willing  to  do  this,  and  it  would  be  inhuman  to 
try  them  when  they  are  arraigned,  as  they  are  in  a  frightful 
condition  from  the  constant  use  of  drugs.  If  the  girls  are  found 
to  be  suffering  from  venereal  disease,  they  are  sent  to  a  hos- 


THE  PATENT  LAWYER  281 

pital  for  treatment  before  being  permitted  to  go  out.  This  is 
a  special  hospital  used  for  these  cases. 

Under  the  Parole  Commission  Law,  if  the  finger-print 
record  shows  that  the  defendant  has  been  convicted  twice 
before  within  the  previous  twenty-four  months,  then  she 
comes  under  the  provisions  of  the  indeterminate  sentence, 
which  means  a  period  not  to  exceed  two  years.  The  court 
also  has  the  power  to  commit  for  three  years. 

In  the  Domestic  Relations  Court,  wives  come  in  charging 
their  husbands  with  abandonment  and  non-support.  The 
soul  of  the  court  is  its  reconciliation  work.  It  turns  its  full 
spirit  to  the  task  of  bringing  together  again  people  who  have 
sought  to  destroy  their  own  homes  and  upset  their  own  lives. 
It  brings  about  a  reconciliation  between  husbands  and  wives 
who  are  clamoring  for  a  separation.  The  court  possesses  no 
power  to  grant  a  divorce.  The  social  service  work  in  con- 
nection with  this  court  is  being  carried  on  in  a  splendid  way, 
and  at  least  sixty  per  cent  of  the  complaints  lodged  by  wives 
are  settled  without  going  to  trial.  If  it  is  found  impossible  to 
reunite  husband  and  wife,  then  the  court  enters  an  order 
directing  the  husband  to  pay  a  certain  amount  a  week  for  the 
support  of  his  family,  depending  upon  his  income.  Sometimes 
it  is  necessary  to  send  a  delinquent  husband  to  the  City  Prison. 


THE  PATENT  LAWYER 

FLORENCE  KING 

Description  of  occupation 

The  occupation  of  the  patent  lawyer  includes  the  securing 
of  patents  for  inventors  and  the  transaction  of  business  be- 
tween the  inventor  and  the  Patent  OflSce  which  leads  into 
many  different  departments;  also  the  prosecution  or  defense 
of  suits  for  infringement  of  patents.  The  actual  work  done  re- 
quires the  writing  of  specifications,  supervising  the  making 
of  mechanical  drawings,  preparation  of  pleadings,  and  the 


282  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

conduct  of  litigation  in  the  United  States  Courts,  the  United 
States  Courts  being  courts  of  original  jurisdiction  in  patent 
cases.  It  also  includes  the  organization  of  corporations  and  the 
handling  of  the  legal  work  incidental  thereto. 

Training  necessary 

The  preliminary  training  for  the  patent  lawyer  requires  at 
least  a  high-school  education  before  taking  a  law  course.  In 
most  States  the  law  course  extends  over  a  period  of  three 
years  and  covers  the  same  texts  covered  by  law  students  an- 
ticipating engaging  in  the  general  practice  of  law.  Practically 
all  law  schools  are  now  open  to  women.  In  addition  to  the  law 
course  the  patent  lawyer  requires  engineering  knowledge,  and, 
if  possible,  practical  training.  Some  patent  lawyers  specialize 
in  different  work  such  as  mechanical  and  electrical  engineer- 
ing. If  the  lawyer  contemplates  mechanical  work,  a  course  in 
mechanical  engineering  is  desirable;  if  electrical  work,  a  course 
in  electrical  engineering,  either  of  which  requires  about  four 
years.  Practically  all  engineering  schools  are  open  to  women. 
At  least  a  high-school  education  is  required  preliminary  to 
engineering  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  no  limit  to  the  opportunity  for  advancement  in  this 
profession  so  far  as  the  work  is  concerned.  The  only  limita- 
tion would  be  the  ability  of  the  woman  to  do  the  work.  I 
would  not  recommend  this  profession  to  any  girl  who  did  not 
expect  to  make  it  a  lifetime  career.  If  the  girl  desires  to  utilize 
the  time  between  school  days  and  matrimony,  this  is  no  pro- 
fession to  anticipate,  and  the  time  for  preparation  and  the 
studious  attention  required  would  be  disappointing  in  results 
to  one  whose  business  career  at  most  would  be  a  matter  of 
only  a  short  time. 

Financial  return 

It  is  impossible  to  state  a  minimum  and  a  maximum  return 

in  this  work,  as  results  must  necessarily  depend  upon  the  ca- 


THE  PATENT  LAWYER  283 

pacity  and  efficiency  of  the  individual.  The  minimum  fee 
charged  by  attorneys  is  generally  $50  for  the  simplest  cases 
and  from  that  upward  into  thousands  of  dollars  for  more  com- 
plicated cases. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  for  success  generally  do  not  differ  from 
other  occupations.  Knowledge  and  efficiency  will  make  for 
success  in  any  business.  Ability  to  do  work  of  this  kind  would 
be  greatly  enhanced  by  a  natural  ability  and  keen  interest  in 
mechanics.  Unless  the  individual  has  some  natural  ability 
in  this  line  I  would  consider  it  quite  impossible  to  progress 
very  far. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  an  occupation  of  this  kind  are  unlimited. 
The  patent  lawyer  meets  all  classes  of  people,  those  of  poverty 
and  those  of  wealth.  Many  of  the  best  inventions  ever  de- 
veloped originated  in  the  brains  of  poor  people.  Patent  liti- 
gation is  rarely  conducted  between  poor  people,  most  always 
between  corporations. 

I  cannot  state  that  I  know  of  any  disadvantages  in  this  pro- 
fession such  as  hours,  confinement,  etc.,  as  the  patent  lawyer 
is  able  to  control  his  or  her  own  time  and  arrange  time  for 
recreation  and  other  interests,  the  same  as  the  head  of  any 
business. 

Supply  and  demand  " 

There  is  an  increasing  demand  for  patent  lawyers,  as  there 
are  more  inventions  made  and  patented  and  more  patented 
articles  being  manufactured  to-day  than  ever  before  in  the 
history  of  the  industrial  development  of  America.  The  history 
of  the  development  of  inventions  as  disclosed  in  the  Patent 
Office  shows  a  constant  and  gradually  increasing  number  of 
inventions  by  inventors  all  over  the  world.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion but  that  America  leads  the  world  in  the  production  of 
new  ideas  and  the  commercial  development  of  them. 


284  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

I  am  informed  that  there  are  about  7000  lawyers  in  the 
United  States  who  have  specialized  in  the  practice  of  patent 
law. 

Reading 

As  suggested  readings,  after  completing  the  courses  in  law  and 
engineering  I  would  advise  the  young  lawyer  to  read  the  most 
up-to-date  books  on  such  branches  of  mechanics  as  would 
pertain  to  the  progress  of  the  particular  art  specialized  in. 
Also  read  as  many  different  mechanical  and  electrical  engineer- 
ing magazines  as  time  will  permit. 

General 

A  GIRL  upon  finishing  her  elementary  education  should  de- 
termine as  definitely  as  a  boy  what  her  future  life  interest  is 
to  be.  Home-making  should  be  encouraged,  but  personally 
I  am  a  firm  believer  that  all  women  were  not  intended  to  be 
mothers  any  more  than  all  men  were  intended  to  be  fathers. 
If  that  question  can  be  settled  by  the  girl  at  the  time  when 
her  education  should  be  directed  along  lines  best  suited  to 
her  mental  equipment,  and  she  decides  upon  a  business  or 
professional  career  which  will  require  years  in  establishing,  I 
know  of  nothing  that  can  equal  the  opportunities  afforded  in 
this  profession,  to  say  nothing  about  the  wonderful  fascina- 
tion that  each  new  case  presents  to  the  person  whose  interest 
centers  around  the  progressive  things  of  the  world.  It  will 
be  observed  that  every  step  made  in  the  progress  of  the  world 
is  based  upon  an  invention,  an  idea  only,  as  it  originated  in 
the  mind  of  some  individual  who  thought  it  out,  built  it  into 
tangible  working  form,  developed  it,  gave  it  the  care  and  at- 
tention that  a  mother  gives  to  a  child,  and  finally  presented 
it  to  the  world  as  his  or  her  contribution  to  the  art  to  which 
it  belongs,  the  inventor  through  the  commercial  utility  of 
his  invention  securing  his  financial  reward,  and  from  the  Gov- 
ernment securing  a  monopoly  upon  his  invention  for  a  period 
of  seventeen  years.  These  are  the  things  that  fascinate  the 


THE  PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY  285 

imagination  and  stimulate  the  individual  to  greater  achieve- 
ment, and  to  me  they  have  been  a  never-ending  joy  in  my 
work  connected  with  inventions  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  for  I  was  interested  in  inventions  before  I  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  law  in  1895. 


THE  PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY 

FLORENCE  E.  ALLEN 

Assistant  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio 

Description  of  occupation 

The  description  of  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  here- 
with given  is  taken  from  the  office  as  it  exists  in  each  county 
in  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  duties  of  the  position  may  vary  in 
other  States.  The  prosecuting  attorney  is  sometimes  called 
the  State's  attorney. 

The  occupation  of  prosecuting  attorney  is,  of  course,  an 
occupation  which  only  a  lawyer  can  fill.  It  has  two  sides,  the 
civil  side  and  the  criminal  side.  Upon  its  criminal  side,  the 
occupation  of  prosecuting  attorney  consists  in  prosecuting 
criminals  upon  the  behalf  of  the  State.  The  work  done  com- 
prises the  hearing  of  evidence  upon  criminal  cases  in  the  grand 
jury  room,  preparing  indictments,  the  study  of  cases  for  trial 
and  the  actual  trial  of  men  charged  with  crime,  drawing  up 
briefs  and  delivering  arguments  upon  appeal  of  cases  to  the 
higher  court. 

Upon  its  civil  side  the  occupation  includes  giving  advice 
upon  every  variety  of  legal  question  arising  concerning  the 
creation  and  government  of  subdivisions  of  the  State  such  as 
townships,  municipalities,  and  coxmties,  and  also  includes 
giving  legal  advice  to  political  boards  and  bodies  such  as 
county  boards  of  elections  and  county  commissioners. 

In  the  performance  of  these  civil  and  political  duties  the 
prosecuting  attorney  is  often  compelled  to  file  suits,  appear 
in  court,  and  conduct  trials. 


286  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Training  necessary 

No  especial  training  is  necessary  for  this  position  except  a 
course  in  some  good  law  school  and  a  moderate  degree  of  ex- 
perience in  the  practice  of  law,  possibly  from  three  to  five 
years'  practice. 

Formerly  the  best  law  schools  did  not  admit  women,  but 
many  of  them  have  recently  removed  this  bar.  Michigan 
University,  Chicago  University,  Columbia  University,  New 
York  University,  and  Leland  Stanford  University  are  among 
the  best-known  institutions  which  admit  women  to  their  law 
courses.  In  some  of  these  schools,  notably  Chicago  University 
Law  School,  the  training  is  post-graduate.  An  undergrad- 
uate student  who  contemplates  entering  a  law  school  which 
demands  a  preliminary  college  degree  will  find  it  advisable 
while  in  college  to  specialize  in  history,  economics,  political 
science,  and  sociology.  Any  girl  who  can  arrange  to  spend  a 
year  in  a  law  office  before  she  enters  a  law  school  will  derive 
far  greater  benefit  from  her  law  course  than  if  she  enters  law 
school  immediately  after  graduating  from  college  without 
practical  experience  in  legal  procedure. 

Admission  to  the  bar  is,  of  course,  a  prerequisite  to  practice 
in  any  State  and  is  governed  by  the  rules  in  each  State. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  at  present  little  opportunity  for  advancement  for 
women  in  a  prosecuting  attorney's  office.  In  a  large  prosecut- 
ing attorney's  office  there  are  usually  several  assistants  and 
one  of  these  is  usually  the  head  assistant.  The  head  assistant 
has  more  responsible  duties  and  usually  a  larger  salary  than 
the  other  assistants.  It  might  be  possible  at  some  future  time 
for  a  woman  to  hold  the  position  of  first  assistant  prosecuting 
attorney,  but  it  will  probably  be  a  very  long  time  before  any 
woman  will  actually  be  prosecuting  attorney.  In  a  small 
prosecuting  attorney's  office  in  less  populous  counties,  the 
opportunity  for  advancement,  that  is,  for  promotion  to  the 
chief  office  in  this  occupation,  would  be  even  less. 


THE  PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY  287 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  of  an  assistant  prosecuting  attorney 
varies  between  $2500  and  $4000,  which  is  less  than  a  woman 
can  earn  in  private  legal  practice. 

Qualifications 

To  be  a  successful  prosecuting  attorney,  in  addition  to  being 
well  grounded  in  the  elements  of  the  law,  one  must  be  careful, 
painstaking,  and  accurate  and  have  some  knowledge  of  how 
to  state  and  plead  a  case  logically,  vividly,  and  concisely. 
Understanding  the  nature  of  criminal  cases,  foreseeing  the 
tricks  which  opposing  lawyers  will  use,  and  consequent  quick- 
ness in  rebuttal  and  argument,  will  come  with  practice. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  this  position  are  the  wide  contact  which  it 
affords  with  varying  phases  of  life,  with  different  classes  of 
people,  and  the  daily  practice  in  trial  work.  The  last-named 
advantage  is  by  all  means  the  greatest  attaching  to  this  posi- 
tion. The  woman  lawyer  is  working  her  way  successfully,  but 
she  usually  does  not  yet  secure  relatively  much  trial  work.  Her 
practice  lies  rather  along  the  lines  of  consultation  and  negotia- 
tion. The  daily  contest  over  the  trial  table  sharpens  a  lawyer's 
wits,  puts  her  at  ease  before  court  and  jury,  and  gives  her  a  self- 
confidence  in  trying  cases  which  nothing  else  can  produce.  For 
the  trial  practice  alone  it  would  be  an  advantage  to  almost  any 
woman  lawyer  to  act  for  some  time  as  prosecuting  attorney. 

The  main  disadvantage  of  the  work  is  that  after  several 
months  it  becomes  routine.  Most  criminal  cases  are  strikingly 
alike.  Also,  if  one  remained  in  office  for  a  period  of  years  she 
might  become  hardened  and  tend  to  believe  all  men  accused 
of  crime  to  be  criminals. 

The  hours  are  not  heavy.  They  range  as  the  hours  in  any 
other  office,  from  about  nine  to  five.  While  trying  cases,  how- 
ever, one  must  forego  the  elasticity  of  private  practice.  A 
woman  is  never  master  of  her  own  time  while  engaged  in  court. 


288  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Supply  and  demand 

The  number  of  women  in  this  field  is  very  limited.  I  have 
heard  of  but  two  women  who  hold  a  similar  position,  one  in 
California  and  one  in  New  York. 

With  the  advent  of  full  and  nation-wide  woman  suffrage 
the  demand  for  women  prosecutors  will  of  course  increase.  As 
there  is  a  prosecuting  attorney  or  State's  attorney  in  every 
county  or  similar  subdivision  in  each  of  the  forty-eight  States, 
after  national  woman  suffrage  is  secured  there  ought  to  be  a 
large  number  of  openings  in  this  field. 

THE  WOMAN  LAWYER 

DOROTHY  STRAUS 

Member  of  the  New  York  Bar 

Description  of  occupation 

It  is  diflScult  to  give  any  description  of  law  as  an  occupation 
because  the  activities  of  men  and  women  trained  in  the  law 
are  as  various  as  human  relationships.  Usually,  however,  the 
term  "lawyer"  is  applied  to  an  individual  who  has  met  the 
requirements  prescribed  by  the  statutes  of  the  several  States, 
has  passed  the  so-called  "bar  examination,"  and  has  been 
given  a  license  by  the  State  admitting  him  to  practice  law 
within  its  jurisdiction.  Thereafter  he  may  engage  either  in 
"court  work,"  which  means  conducting  cases  in  the  courts 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  court  of  appeals  within  the 
State  or  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court;  or  he  may 
do  "office  work,"  by  which  term  is  meant  the  preparation  of 
legal  papers  of  all  kinds,  conferences  with  clients,  the  organiza- 
tion of  business  enterprises,  attendance  at  meetings,  consulta- 
tions and  correspondence.  Most  lawyers  combine  both  these 
forms  of  activity,  although  there  appears  to  be  an  increasing 
tendency  to  differentiate  along  the  lines  established  in  Eng- 
land, a  tendency  appearing  somewhat  more  noticeably  in 
the  larger  cities  than  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  Connected 


THE  WOMAN  LAWYER  289 

with  any  kind  of  law  work  is  a  great  deal  of  legal  research,  for 
no  man  is  so  learned  in  the  law  that  new  points  or  new  phases 
of  statute  or  procedure  do  not  constantly  present  themselves. 
Continuous  study  is  essential. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  practice  of  the  law,  a  legal  train- 
ing has  been  found  extremely  useful  for  all  kinds  of  social, 
political,  and  industrial  research  and  activities.  Many  of  the 
prominent  organizations  have  associated  with  them  either 
admitted  attorneys  or  persons  with  some  legal  training  whose 
usefulness  lies  mainly  in  the  fact  that  their  familiarity  with 
the  law  and  legal  methods  aids  the  organization  in  preparing 
its  legislative  programme  or  in  weighing  and  classifying  in- 
formation. Many  business  houses  have  also  found  the  asso- 
ciation of  a  lawyer  a  valuable  asset.  There  are,  therefore, 
many  fields  open  to  a  girl  who  proposes  to  take  up  law  as  a 
career,  and  the  choice  will  depend  greatly  upon  her  individual 
circumstances,  and  perhaps  the  locality  in  which  she  begins 
her  activities.  Her  own  inclinations  and  personal  fitness  will 
likewise  have  a  vital  bearing  on  the  particular  use  she  will 
make  of  her  legal  training. 

Preparation  necessary 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  this  brief  article,  to 
specify  the  preparation  or  training  necessary.  This  varies 
with  the  individual  schools,  of  which  there  are  some  129  in 
the  United  States,  27  of  them  not  open  to  women.  The  en- 
trance requirements  of  these  schools  differ  greatly,  some  mak- 
ing a  college  education  an  absolute  prerequisite,  while  others 
do  not  demand  even  high-school  training.  The  length  of  at- 
tendance required  differs  in  the  same  way.  The  Bureau  of 
Vocational  Information  of  2  West  43d  Street,  New  York  City, 
in  its  pamphlet,  "Women  in  the  Law,"  shortly  to  appear, 
has  fully  analyzed  all  of  these  requirements,  and  is  not  only 
in  a  position,  but  is  ready  to  give  the  fullest  information 
concerning  the  individual  schools.  It  is  suggested  that  for 
such  specific  information  inquiry  be  made  of  the  Bureau. 


290  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

In  discussing  the  opportunities  for  advancement  and  the  re- 
turns which  a  prospective  woman  lawyer  may  expect,  it  must 
be  remembered  —  and  this  is  perhaps  the  most  fundamental 
thing  to  be  remembered  in  connection  with  law  as  a  career 
for  women  —  that  it  is  still  a  pioneer  field  for  women.  Perhaps 
the  reason  for  this  will  appear  when  it  is  known  that  the  first 
time  a  woman  was  graduated  from  a  law  school  in  the  United 
States  was  in  1872,  when  the  University  of  Michigan  gained 
the  proud  distinction,  and  that  only  1599  women,  according  to 
the  best  records  obtainable,  have  ever  been  admitted  to  prac- 
tice law  in  all  of  the  States  of  the  United  States  in  the  period 
from  1872  to  March,  1920.  Moreover,  a  large  number  of 
women  who  have  been  admitted  and  are  entitled  to  practice 
do  not  continue  in  practice,  or  else  do  other  work,  such  as 
stenography,  using  their  law  training  merely  as  an  aid  to  ad- 
vance them  in  other  fields.  It  may,  therefore,  safely  be  said 
that  the  number  of  women  actually  practicing  law  in  the  coun- 
try to-day  is  perhaps  less  than  one  half  of  the  number  who 
have  been  admitted  to  the  bar. 

Financial  returns 

The  financial  returns,  as  in  other  professions,  are  not  the 
chief  returns  to  be  expected.  A  lawyer,  man  or  woman,  will 
begin  with  a  salary  of  $10  or  $15  a  week.  The  rest  is  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  individual,  but  it  may  be  said,  from  the 
statistics  available,  that  very  few  women  have  made  more 
than  $6500  a  year,  and  that  the  average  earnings  are  between 
$1800  and  $2000.  On  the  whole,  these  amounts  do  not  com- 
pare unfavorably  with  the  amounts  earned  by  men.  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  reported  that  among  the  15,000  lawyers  in 
New  York  City,'^tfee  average  earnings  were  $1500  a  year.  It 
may,  therefore,  be  said  that  no  woman  has  as  yet  achieved 
the  high  place  in  law  that  some  men  have  attained,  but  when 
we  compare  the  few  years  during  which  women  have  been 
entitled  to  practice  with  the  centuries  in  which  men  have 


THE  WOMAN  LAWYER  291 

pursued  the  same  occupation,  the  result  is  not  surprising.  In 
this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  women  have  been 
admitted  to  practice  only  recently  in  all  of  the  States  of  the 
United  States;  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  woman  has  ever 
been  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Delaware,  although  women  are 
entitled  to  admission;  that  women  are  only  now  being  per- 
mitted to  practice  in  England;  and  that  their  admission  to 
practice  in  France  does  not  antedate  their  admission  in  the 
United  States. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  chief  satisfactions  to  be  gained  by  a  girl  who  proposes  to 
become  a  lawyer  must,  therefore,  be  sought,  not  in  the  amount 
of  money  which  she  can  acquire  and  accumulate,  but  in  the 
work  which  she  will  be  able  to  do,  in  the  contactwith  human 
relationships  and  affairs  which  the  practice  of  the  law  inevi- 
tably brings  with  it.  In  our  present  organization  of  society, 
lawyers  are  nearly  always  at  the  very  heart  of  all  movements, 
organizations,  and  activities.  The  opportunity  for  a  woman 
to  participate  in  these,  while  perhaps  less  than  that  of  a  man, 
is  greater  than  it  has  ever  been  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
therefore  the  extent  of  her  participation  will,  in  a  large  meas- 
ure, depend  upon  her  own  ability  and  energy.  She  must  be 
able  to  carry  responsibility,  to  make  sure  and  firm  decisions, 
even  mistakes,  to  adapt  herself  to  varying  needs  and  person- 
alities, to  initiate  and  to  organize. 

The  acquisition  of  these  qualities  depends  largely  upon 
experience,  and  no  amount  of  preliminary  training  can  supply 
them  in  an  individual  without  an  inherent  measure  of  them. 
The  more  education,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  that  a  girl  has,  the 
easier  it  may  be  for  her  in  the  end,  but  a  comparison  of  the 
histories  of  the  women  who  have  thus  far  succeeded  in  the  law 
indicates  that  no  specific  training  is  a  guarantee  of  success 
and  that  a  substantial  career  may  be  built  more  safely  upon 
individuality  than  upon  any  particular  form  of  learning. 

The  chief  questions  that  a  girl  about  to  become  a  lawyer 


292  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

should  ask  herself  are  these:  "Have  I  the  energy,  the  endur- 
ance, and  the  real  interest  in  the  work  I  am  about  to  do  to 
meet  the  many  obstacles  and  discouragements  which  I  shall 
inevitably  encounter?  Shall  I  find  such  satisfaction  in  this 
form  of  self-expression  that  I  am  ready  to  undertake  the 
pioneering  work  which  a  woman  lawyer  must  still  carry  on  in 
our  present  society?  " 


LIBRARY  WORK  .  / 

THE  CHILDREN'S  LIBRARIAN      \ 

ALICE  I.  HAZELTINE 

St.  Louis  Public  Library 

Historical  development 

This  department  of  work  in  public  libraries  is  of  compara- 
tively recent  development.  The  ideal  of  adequate  service  to 
every  member  of  a  community  upon  which  a  library  depends 
for  support  has  necessitated  consideration  of  special  groups,  of 
which  children  form  the  largest  and  most  insistent.  Indeed, 
in  the  beginning  some  libraries  were  forced  to  make  provision 
for  them  in  order  not  to  interfere  with  the  comfort  and  pleas- 
ure of  adult  readers.  About  twenty-five  years  ago,  however,  a 
number  of  libraries  began  to  organize  work  with  children,  mak- 
ing of  it  a  separate  department,  that  it  might  be  done  thor- 
oughly and  intelligently.  It  has  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
work  of  American  libraries  and  demands  specialized  training 
and  equipment  even  inside  the  library  field. 

Description  of  occupation 

The  purpose  of  this  specialized  service  is  to  furnish  each  child, 
as  far  as  may  be,  a  substitute  for  a  library  of  his  own  and  to 
so  train  him  in  the  habit  and  understanding  of  the  use  of  a 
public  library  that  he  may  as  an  adult  make  intelligent  use  of 
all  its  resources.  The  ideal  is  that  each  child  may  have  at  all 
times  the  best  books  which  he  is  capable  of  enjoying  —  pic- 
ture books,  fairy  tales,  stories,  whether  of  history,  adventure, 
or  every-day  life,  the  best  books  of  information  on  all  subjects, 
the  best  of  world  literature  which  has  become  children's  own, 
and,  further,  that  he  may  cultivate  such  standards  of  taste 


294  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

that  when  grown  his  enjoyment  of  the  world  of  print  may 
show  discrimination  and  judgment. 

A  children's  librarian  may  have  charge  of  a  children's  room, 
in  the  main  building  of  a  large  library  system,  in  a  branch 
library,  or  in  a  library  in  a  smaller  town.  To  the  children's 
rooms  come  children  of  all  ages,  with  varying  interests,  with 
numberless  questions.  They  witness  to  the  drawling  power  of 
the  printed  page.  Part  of  the  fascination  of  this  work  comes 
from  the  fact  that  to  this  room  with  low  shelves,  low  tables, 
comfortable  chairs,  a  room  well  stocked  with  books  and 
planned  with  a  view  to  artistic  effect  and  practical  conven- 
ience, the  boys  and  girls  come  voluntarily,  because  they  really 
want  something  that  the  library  can  give.  Again,  a  children's 
librarian  may  have  charge  of  library  work  with  schools,  in- 
cluding work  with  teachers  and  the  selection  and  placing  of 
small  collections  of  books  in  classrooms  or  school  buildings. 
She  may  have  charge  of  a  system  of  home  libraries  —  small 
collections  placed  in  homes  in  poorer  districts  where  children 
of  the  neighborhood  come  together  for  group  meetings.  She 
may  become  a  specialist  in  story-telling  on  the  staff  of  some 
large  library,  or  she  may  organize  a  whole  system  of  reading 
clubs  for  older  boys  and  girls.  She  may  have  charge  of  all  work 
with  children  in  a  smaller  or  larger  city,  or  in  a  State  through 
the  State  Library  Commission. 

Preparation  necessary 

A  children's  librarian  needs  training  in  the  principles  of 
general  library  work  plus  courses  of  study  in  children's  litera- 
ture and  methods  of  work  with  children,  and,  in  addition, 
sufficient  practical  experience  to  enable  her  to  undertake 
independent  work.  All  of  the  library  schools  of  the  country 
give  brief  courses  in  work  with  children,  although  they  do  not 
all  offer  specialized  training,  and  graduates  of  these  various 
schools  have  successfully  filled  many  positions  in  this  field. 
Specialized  training  is  very  much  to  be  desired  by  any  one 
entering  this  work,  however.  The  Carnegie  Library  School, 


THE  CHILDREN'S  LIBRARIAN  295 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  offers  a  special  course  in  library 
work  with  children  and  one  in  school  library  work.  Each 
course  is  one  collegiate  year  in  length  and  its  satisfactory  com- 
pletion is  recognized  by  a  diploma.  Candidates  who  are 
graduates  of  universities  and  colleges  with  a  recognized  high 
standard  may  be  admitted  without  examination.  Others  are 
required  to  pass  an  examination  in  literature,  history,  general 
information,  and  two  foreign  languages.  Graduates  of  general 
library  schools  often  enter  the  Carnegie  Library  School  for 
specialization  in  children's  work.  This  year  a  special  short, 
intensive  course  is  being  offered  to  those  who  have  had  the 
general  training.  The  Cleveland  Training  Class  for  Library 
Work  with  children  conducted  by  the  Cleveland  Public  Li- 
brary in  cooperation  with  the  Library  School  at  Western 
Reserve  University  admits  students  who  have  had  one  year 
in  a  library  school  or  such  knowledge  of  library  methods  as 
may  be  gained  by  several  years  of  service  in  a  well-organized 
library.  Both  theoretical  and  practical  training  are  empha- 
sized, two  mornings  a  week  being  given  to  class  instruction, 
and  about  thirty-three  hours  of  work  in  a  children's  room 
required  each  week.  A  salary  is  paid  for  this  practice  work 
and  a  certificate  is  granted  on  completion  of  the  course.  Un- 
dergraduate courses  in  literature,  history,  sociology,  and 
psychology  are  of  special  value  to  the  young  woman  who  is 
planning  to  enter  this  profession,  and  the  completion  of  the 
full  four  years'  work  is  desirable.  A  knowledge  of  foreign 
languages  is  an  asset,  though  not  of  so  great  importance  as  in 
adult  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

This  is  largely  along  executive  lines,  from  assisting  in  a  chil- 
dren's room  to  taking  charge  of  it,  then  to  managing  a  division 
or  a  department.  Experience  in  children's  work  is  also  of 
value  to  those  in  executive  positions  which  include  work  with 
both  adults  and  children. 


g96  CAKEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

This  is  not  at  present  so  great  as  in  the  teaching  profession, 
but  an  adjustment  of  salaries  is  now  being  made  which  is 
likely  to  make  less  disparity.  In  general  the  minimum  salary 
of  assistant  children's  librarians  ranges  from  about  $840  to 
$1020  a  year,  with  a  maximum  of  about  $1140;  of  children's 
librarians  in  charge  of  children's  rooms,  a  minimum  range  of 
about  $1140  to  about  $1260  a  year,  with  a  maximum  of  about 
$1380  to  about  $1680.  The  maximum  in  executive  positions 
is  $2000  or  more.  Vacations  of  about  one  month,  with  pay, 
are  usual. 

Qualifications  necessary 

A  KNOWLEDGE  of  books  and  an  understanding  of  children  are 
prime  requisites  of  the  successful  children's  librarian.  Ability 
to  choose  books  for  children  demands  an  appreciation  of 
literary  values,  a  consideration  of  the  practical  uses  of  certain 
kinds  of  books,  and  a  comprehension  of  what  a  child  really 
likes.  A  children's  librarian  should  be  one  to  whom  children 
naturally  turn  for  suggestion  and  advice,  one  whose  interests 
and  sympathies  are  broad  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
individual  child  and  to  gain  an  insight  into  conditions  of  child 
life  of  the  community.  The  work  demands  good  health, 
quickness  of  thought  and  action,  patience,  resourcefulness,  a 
sense  of  humor,  ability  to  work  easily  with  others,  and,  in  the 
higher  positions,  executive  ability.  A  fund  of  general  informa- 
tion is  needed  in  this  as  in  all  kinds  of  library  work. 

Advantages 

The  children's  librarian  comes  in  contact  with  others  inter- 
ested in  various  phases  of  education  and  child  welfare,  with 
parents,  teachers,  settlement  workers,  probation  oflficers,  and 
social  workers  in  various  positions.  Her  interests  are  wide  and 
varied.  To  those  who  enjoy  being  with  children  in  a  relation- 
ship which  has  little  of  the  formal  and  which  enables  one  to 
meet  them  in  a  simple,  direct,  spontaneous  way  the  profession 


THE  CHILDREN'S  LIBRARIAN  297 

has  a  great  charm.  This  is  a  compensation  for  the  somewhat 
shorter  hours  and  longer  vacation  enjoyed  by  teachers.  Most 
pubUc  Hbraries  now  require  a  working  week  of  from  forty  to 
forty-three  hours. 

Supply  and  demand 

There  are  now  probably  several  hundred  children's  librarians 
in  the  United  States,  perhaps  somewhere  between  250  and 
600.  There  has  never  been  a  time  when  the  supply  has  equaled 
the  demand,  and  as  far  as  may  be  seen  now,  this  condition  is 
likely  to  remain  the  same  for  some  years  to  come,  as  children's 
library  work  will  probably  be  developed  on  a  larger  scale  than 
heretofore,  and  new  and  interesting  positions  will  demand 
expert  children's  librarians.  There  are  openings  in  all  parts 
of  the  country. 

Service  to  society 

Personal  influence  in  guiding  the  reading  of  individual 
children  is  scarcely  to  be  measured.  Through  story-telling 
and  through  reading  aloud  to  groups  of  children  it  is  possible 
to  draw  attention  to  the  best  literature.  As  a  factor  in  democ- 
racy, the  library  where  every  child  may  come  with  his  eager- 
ness for  "a  good  book,"  and  as  a  part  of  the  new  educational 
programme  which  places  emphasis  on  the  effort  to  give  the 
individual  child  training  which  he  is  best  fitted  to  use,  library 
work  with  children  has  its  definite  place  in  service  to  society. 
The  children's  librarian  has  a  part  in  a  movement  which 
touches  Hfe  at  many  points,  which  is,  we  believe,  being 
broadened  and  deepened  from  year  to  year,  and  which  looks 
to  the  future  through  the  opportunities  offered  to  every  boy 
and  girl. 

Suggested  reading 

Library  Work  with  Children: 

"American  Public  Library  "  —  A.  E.  Bostwick. 

"Library  Work  with  Children"  —  A.  I.  Hazeltine,  ed. 
(Classics  of  American  Librarianship). 


298  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"  Manual  of  Library  Economy,"  chapter  29— F.  J.  Olcott. 
"The  Children's  Library"  —  Mrs.  S.  H.  Powell. 

Children's  Reading  and  Story-Telling: 

"How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children"  —  S.  C.  Bryant. 
"Fingerposts  to  Children's  Reading"  —  W.  T.  Field. 
"Telling  Bible  Stories"  —  Mrs.  L.  S.  Houghton. 
"What  Shall  We  Read  to  the  Children?"  —  C.  W.  Hunt. 
"Literature  for  Children"  —  O.  Lowe. 
"Story-Telling;  What  to  Tell  and  How  to  Tell  It "  —  E. 

Lyman. 
"Children's  Books  and  Reading"  —  M.  J.  Moses. 
"Children's  Reading"  —  F.  J.  Olcott. 
"Art  of  the  Story-TeUer"  —  M.  L.  Shedlock. 


i 


THE  INDUSTRLVL  LIBRARLiN 

EDITH  PHAIL 

Industrial  Librarian^  ScoviU  Manufacturing  Company,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

Description  of  occupation 

The  advantage  of  any  phase  of  library  work  is  that  it  never 
ceases  to  be  interesting.  It  never  reaches  a  state  where  it 
becomes  monotonous.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  special 
library  work,  or  industrial  Hbrary  work.  The  Special  Library 
Association  adopted  the  following  definition  for  a  special 
library:  "A  special  Ubrary  consists  of  a  good  working  collec- 
tion of  information  upon  a  specific  subject  or  field  of  activity; 
it  may  consist  of  general  or  even  limited  material  serving  the 
interests  of  a  sf>ecial  clientele  and  preferably  in  charge  of  a 
specialist  trained  in  the  use  and  application  of  the  particular 
material." 

Industrial  library  work  can  be  divided  into  two  distinct 
classes;  the  first,  general  library  work  applied  to  the  whole 
industry,  and  the  second,  library  work  applied  to  a  specific 
part  of  the  industry.  Preparation  and  training  for  the  two 
should  be  entirely  different. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  LIBRARIAN  299 

Preparation  necessary 

In  preparation  for  the  first  it  is  necessary  to  have  four  years 
of  general  college  work  and  a  post-graduate  course  in  library 
science.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  languages,  preferably 
French  and  German,  economics,  psychology,  sociology  are 
necessary.  A  year  or  two  in  public  library  work  before  enter- 
ing the  special  field  would  be  a  great  advantage.  This  would 
create  a  respect  for  the  public  library  systems  and  pave  a  way 
to  cooperation  between  the  special  and  public  libraries. 

The  training  to  best  fit  a  Hbrarian  for  the  highly  special- 
ized library  work  is  a  four  years'  technical  course;  for  example, 
an  engineer's  or  chemist's  course.  A  director  of  one  of  the 
largest  technical  libraries  in  New  York  City  made  the  state- 
ment that  if  he  wanted  a  technical  librarian  he  would  get  a 
person  with  chemical  training  and  teach  her  library  methods. 
In  the  highly  specialized  work  a  librarian  usually  works  with 
a  small  group  of  people  such  as  the  chemists,  electrical  en- 
gineers, mechanical  engineers,  the  sales  department,  or  the 
executives  of  the  business. 

Library  school  training  is  given  by  any  of  the  following 
schools : 

California  State  Library  School,  Sacramento,  California. 

Riverside  Library  School,  Riverside,  California. 

University  of  Illinois  State  Library  School,  Urbana,  Illinois. 

Indiana  Library  School,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Simmons  College  School  of  Library  Science,  Boston, 
Massachusetts. 

New  York  State  Library  School,  Albany,  New  York. 

Pratt  Institute  School  of  Library  Science,  Brooklyn, 
New  York. 

Syracuse  University  Library  School,  Syracuse,  New  York. 

Western  Reserve  University,  Library  School,  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

University  of  Washington,  Library  School,  Seattle,  Wash- 
ington. 

Library  School  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison, 
Wisconsin. 


300  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  librarian  who  is  interested  in  the  general  library  work 
applied  to  a  whole  industry  usually  is  the  professional  libra- 
rian. The  preparation  is  such  that  the  only  thing  in  which  she 
is  a  specialist  is  library  work.  She  can  advance  just  so  far  as 
her  ability  is  able  to  work  the  library  into  a  valuable  place  in 
the  organization.  This  depends  entirely  on  the  attitude  of  the 
management  toward  the  library  and  the  insight  and  diplomacy 
of  the  librarian. 

The  librarian  interested  in  applying  library  methods  to  a 
specific  part  of  the  industry  may  have  ambitions,  as  stated 
above,  or  use  the  position  of  the  librarian  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  a  higher  position  in  the  organization.  The  position  can  be 
made  a  strategic  point  if  the  librarian  so  wishes  it. 

The  one  great  advantage  in  the  special  hbrary  work  is  that 
the  librarian  has  the  privilege  of  making  the  position  any- 
thing she  desires,  if  she  has  the  abihty  "to  sell"  the  "library 
idea." 

Financial  returns 

It  is  well  for  the  librarian  entering  the  special  field  to  make 
inquiries  of  those  in  the  work  before  stating  the  salary  desired. 
Little  can  be  said  definitely  about  salaries,  because  standards 
for  salaries  are  changing  so  rapidly.  The  maximum  salary  of 
the  industrial  librarian  depends  entirely  upon  the  value  of 
the  library  department  to  the  organization.  A  business  or- 
ganization will  always  pay  for  the  value  received. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  natural  qualifications  necessary  for  success  in  special 
library  work  are  those  necessary  for  success  in  any  kind  of 
work.  They  are,  personality,  good  health,  honesty,  accuracy, 
adaptability,  resourcefulness,  and  scope  of  vision. 

The  qualifications  to  be  acquired  are  a  fine  business  sense, 
level-headedness,  keen  insight,  tact,  diplomacy,  and  highly 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  LIBRARIAN  301 

developed  interest  in  people  and  their  problems,  aptitude  for 
learning  the  business  needs,  and  a  forceful  style  in  making 
written  reports.  The  last  mentioned  is  extremely  necessary. 
It  is  the  only  way  many  executives  have  of  knowing  just  what 
the  library  means  in  the  organization. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  the  industrial  library  are  many.  Regular 
daylight  hours,  no  night  work,  and  half-hoHday  on  Saturday 
is  the  usual  schedule  for  the  industrial  Hbrarian.  The  work 
with  the  people  follows  no  set  policy.  It  can  be  developed  in 
the  way  best  fitted  to  the  librarian's  personality  and  the 
firm's  needs.  Funds  and  means  for  promoting  the  work  are 
unlimited  if  the  librarian,  in  the  terms  of  the  business  man, 
"can  sell  her  proposition."  The  Hbrarian  is  usually  sent 
anywhere  at  the  expense  of  the  company  if  it  will  help  in  the 
development  of  the  work.  This  includes  conventions,  visits  to 
other  libraries,  etc.  The  work  in  the  industrial  organization 
keeps  the  librarian  keenly  alert  and  never  becomes  monoto- 
nous. 

The  hours  are  often  longer  than  public  library  hours  and  the 
vacation  period  is  shorter.  The  vacation  periods  are  usually 
of  two  weeks.  If  a  person  entering  the  industrial  library  work 
does  not  have  a  keen  fighting  spirit,  tenacity,  diplomacy,  and  a 
good  disposition,  she  had  better  choose  another  field  of  library 
work.  It  is  a  constant  fight  "to  sell"  the  Hbrary  idea,  but  it 
is  always  worth  the  fight.  The  library  is  also  affected  by  the 
fluctuations  in  business.  The  position  of  the  librarian  is  never 
as  secure  as  it  is  in  the  general  pubHc  library. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  field  for  special  library  workers  is  steadily  increasing. 
There  is  no  phenomenal  growth,  which  indicates  that  the 
work  has  come  to  stay.  There  are  never  enough  librarians  to 
fill  the  positions  in  the  industrial  field.  The  positions  are 
mostly  in  large  cities  such  as  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston, 


802  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Chicago,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  and  San  Francisco.  Boston 
alone  has  over  one  hundred  special  libraries. 

Suggested  reading 

The  journals  of  the  library  world  should  be  carefully  watched. 
The  important  ones  are  "Special  Libraries,"  "Library 
Journal,"  and  "PubKc  Libraries."  The  type  of  reading  to 
follow  will  depend  entirely  on  the  kind  of  special  library  in 
which  the  person  is  interested.  A  person  interested  in  finan- 
cial libraries  would  read  books  on  finance,  banking,  foreign 
exchange,  economics,  etc.;  one  interested  in  safety  engineering 
would  read  books  on  accident  prevention,  safety,  etc.;  one 
interested  in  industrial  library  work  would  read  books  per- 
taining to  the  industry,  factory  organization,  labor  conditions, 
industrial  service  work,  etc.  The  work  in  the  different  types 
of  special  libraries  is  so  specific  that  only  the  preliminary 
training  can  be  obtained  before  entering  the  field.  Special 
reading  and  studying  has  to  be  done  in  order  to  fit  the  library 
to  each  particular  industry.  If  the  Hbrarian  does  not  find  her 
niche  in  the  special  field,  that  by  no  means  indicates  that  she 
is  not  a  good  librarian.  Her  qualifications  may  very  readily 
fit  her  for  the  general  type  of  library  work. 


THE  LIBRARIAN 

JUNE  RICHARDSON  DONNELLY 

Vice-President,  Professional  Training  Section,  American  Library  Association 

Description  of  occupation 

Library  service  is  a  field  particularly  suited  to  women, 

especially  college  women. 

As  a  social  factor  the  library's  influence  extends  to  all  the 
community  interests,  educational,  industrial,  civic,  recreative, 
in  their  healthy,  normal  manifestations.  That  fact  appeals 
strongly  to  the  healthy-minded  woman  who  wants  to  help  in 
the  world's  work,  but  does  not  feel  drawn  to  some  valuable 


THE  LIBRARIAN  303 

forms  of  service  which  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  ills  of 
society. 

The  modem  librarian  is  not  simply  a  curator  of  books,  but 
an  active  agent  in  establishing  the  most  perfect  contact  be- 
tween the  book  and  the  person  who  wants  the  information, 
help,  or  pleasure  that  book  could  give  him. 

The  forms  of  library  work  by  which  this  end  must  be 
accomplished  are:  the  selection  of  books,  ordering  them, 
arranging  them  in  a  way  which  will  enable  them  to  be  used 
easily,  cataloguing  them,  lending  them  for  home  use,  and 
furnishing  expert  service  in  looking  up  information  through 
the  reference  aids  that  a  library  has. 

The  public  library  has  the  most  general  clientele,  serving  all 
alike. 

Work  with  children,  or  in  the  high-school  or  college  library, 
or  in  the  library  now  so  common  in  business  and  industrial 
concerns,  all  present  interesting  problems  of  adaptation  to  the 
needs  of  a  special  constituency. 

Library  work  in  hospitals,  where  the  therapeutic  value  of 
reading  is  recognized  by  medical  men,  is  a  new  and  important 
development. 

Extent  of  occupation  and  opportunity  for  advancement 
All  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  are  included  in  the 
geographical  range  for  this  occupation.  Through  the  agency 
of  library  commissions,  libraries  are  increasing  in  number  in 
rural  districts  and  the  branch  systems  are  intensifying  the 
work  in  densely  populated  cities. 

The  American  Library  Annual  lists  over  5000  libraries 
in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  employing  from  1  to  1300 
people  each. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  Educational 
Directory,  1919-20,  part  6,  lists  about  1750  public  and 
society  libraries. 

Not  every  one  who  "works  in  a  library"  is  a  librarian,  by 
which  term  we  mean  those  whose  occupation  is  actually  with 


304  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  book  and  its  use;  so  to  say  that  there  were  about  16,000 
employed  in  libraries  would  give  little  index  to  the  extent  to 
which  this  occupation  would  give  opportunity  to  the  college- 
bred,  professionally  trained  woman. 

It  may  be  a  better  indication  to  say  that  at  present  there  is 
a  serious  shortage  of  such  people,  so  that  many  positions  are 
vacant,  therefore  the  openings  for  the  individual  and  the 
prospects  of  advancement  are  abnormal.  Though  this  should 
not  last,  a  steady  normal  development  of  the  field  is  to  be 
expected. 

Qualifications  and  preparation 

The  qualifications  vary  with  the  special  position,  but  the 

main  natural  ones  are  good  health,  energy,  quickness  of 

comprehension  and  action,  accuracy,  neatness,  adaptability, 

interest  in  people,  ability  to  do  teamwork,  and  qualities  of 

leadership. 

In  addition  to  the  natural  qualifications  a  good  education, 
which  has  resulted  in  an  appreciation  of  books,  and  a  soimd 
technical  training  in  library  science  are  desirable. 

For  general  education  a  high-school  education  is  the  mini- 
mum, and  college  degrees  are  being  demanded  more  and  more, 
while  any  specialization  beyond  that  is  an  asset. 

Many  fine  librarians  have  developed  through  experience 
alone,  but  in  the  last  thirty-five  years  library  schools  have 
sprung  up,  so  that  theories  and  their  application  may  be 
taught  in  the  approved  method  of  present-day  vocational 
and  professional  education  in  order  that  later  the  practical 
experience  may  be  more  quickly  fruitful. 

The  American  Library  Annual  lists  each  year  "Library 
Schools  and  Short  Courses."  In  the  short  courses  are  good 
apprentice  courses,  such  as  those  of  the  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, City  Library  Association,  or  the  Brooklyn  Public 
Library. 

There  is  an  Association  of  American  Library  Schools  which 
has  certain  standards,  such  as  that  they  must  give  at  least 


THE  LIBRARIAN  305 

a  one-year  course,  training  for  general  work  rather  than  for 
one  library,  have  certain  qualifications  in  their  instructing 
faculty,  and  so  on. 
Its  members  are: 

1.  Carnegie  Library  School,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

2.  Library  School,  Carnegie  Library  of  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

3.  Library  School  of  the  New  York  City  Public  Library. 

4.  University  of  Wisconsin  Library  School,  Madison, 
Wisconsin. 

5.  Library  School  of  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

6.  New  York  State  Library  School,  Albany,  New  York. 

7.  Pratt  Institute  Library  School,  Brooklyn,  New  York. 

8.  Simmons  College,  School  of  Library  Science,  Boston. 

9.  Syracuse  University  Library  School,  Syracuse,  New  York. 

10.  University  of  Illinois  Library  School,  Urbana,  Illinois. 

11.  Los  Angeles  Public  Library  School,  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia. 

12.  University   of   Washington   Library   School,    Seattle, 
Washington. 

6,  10,  and  12  admit  only  college  graduates,  as  does  8  for 
its  one-year  degree  course.  6  and  10  have  a  two-years'  course 
leading  to  the  B.L.S.  degree. 

The  others  vary;  2,  3,  4,  5,  7,  11,  admit  high-school  grad- 
uates on  examination,  yet  a  large  per  cent  of  the  applicants 
are  college  graduates,  and  some  of  these  schools  admit  such 
on  their  degrees. 

1  and  8  give  one  year  of  library  science  in  connection  with 
three  years  of  academic  college  work,  leading  to  a  degree  in 
four  years.  1  has  also  a  non-degree  one-year  general  course, 
and  a  year  of  training  for  library  work  with  children. 

Several  other  California  institutions  have  less  standard- 
ized courses  and  the  St.  Louis  Public  Library  maintains  a  good 
school. 

An  article  by  Miss  M.  E.  Baker  in  the  May  15  "Library 
Journal,"  on  "Prevocational  Training  for  librarianship," 


306  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

analyzes  the  courses  suggested  or  required  for  entrance  to 
the  schools.  They  may  be  summed  up  as,  English,  foreign 
languages,  economics,  social  sciences,  history,  science. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  have  been  inadequate  for  the  qualifications  and 
services,  but  the  same  reorganization  that  is  affecting  teachers' 
recompense  is  taking  place  in  the  library  profession.  They 
are  rising  steadily.  The  movement  varies  in  pace  in  different 
sections  and  unfair  inequalities  still  exist,  but  the  increased 
demand  and  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  librarian's  value 
in  the  business  field  give  promise  of  continued  improvement. 
Trained  people  without  experience  are  commanding  from 
$1100  to  $1600  or  more.  Those  with  experience  receive  more. 
The  majority  of  salaries  are  doubtless  below  $2000,  but  many 
individuals  receive  more,  from  $2000  to  $10,000,  which  last 
is  that  of  only  a  few  men  directors  of  large  libraries. 

Disadvantages 

The  chief  disadvantage  is  the  irregularity  of  the  hours,  and 
the  frequent  night  and  Sunday  work.  Forty  to  forty-five 
hours  are  the  normal  week  with  one  month  of  vacation. 

Suggested  reading 

Conditions  of  library  work  are  changing  so  rapidly  that  old 
material  is  nearly  useless.  A  few  articles  have  been  included 
which  give  the  spirit  well,  but  none  of  the  statistics  in  them 
should  be  considered.  For  salaries  nothing  before  1919  is  of 
any  use.  The  best  references  are  starred. 

*  "American  Public  Library"  —  A.  E.  Bostwick,  1917. 
"Superstructures."  —  W.  N.  C.  Carlton,  1918. 

*  "Are  you  Seeking  a  Vocation?  "  —  Carnegie  Library  School, 

Pittsburgh.   1920. 
"Women  in  Library  Work"  —  J.  C.  Dana.   (In  his  "Libra- 
ries," pp.  171-79).    Reprinted  from  the  "Independent," 
August  3,  1911. 


THE  LIBRARIAN  307 

"Opportunities  for  College  Women  in  Library  Work"—' 

M.  E.  Hazeltine.    (In  the  "Bookman,"  February,  1916, 

42:685-91.) 
"Librarianship  an  Uncrowded  Calling"  —  New  York  State 

Library  School.   1911. 
Pacific  Northwest  Library  Association.  Report  of  the  special 

committee  on  salaries.  March,  1920. 
"Training  for  Librarianship"  —  M.  W.  Plummer.   1913. 
Simmons  College,  "  Vocational  Opportunities."   1919. 
**  University  of  Washington  Library  School  Alumni.   "  A  Call 

to  Librarianship."   1919. 
"War  Libraries  and  Allied  Studies"  —  T.  W.  Koch.   1918. 
"The  Public  Library  and  the  Public  Schools"  —  L.  P.  Ayres 

and  Adele  McKinnie.   1916. 
University  of  Wisconsin  Library  School.    "Apprentice  Course 

for  Small  Libraries." 
**  Note,    The  catalogues  of  the  various  Library  Schools  are 

issued  annually. 

Children's  work. 

"Library   Work   with   Children"  —  A.  I.   Hazeltine,  ed. 

1917.   (Classics  of  American  Librarianship.) 
"Library    Work   with   Children"  — F.   J.  Olcott.   1914. 

(American   Library   Association   Manual.     Reprint, 

chapter  29.) 
"The  Children's   Librarian   and  her  Training"  —  S.  H. 

Powell.   (In  her  "The  Children's  Library,  a  dynamic 

factor  in  education,"  pp.  255-71.   1917.) 


308  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

/ 

THE  MEDICAL  LIBRARIAN 

GRACE  W.  MYERS 

Lihrarian,  TreadweU  Library,  Massachusetts  General  Hospital 

Description  of  occupation 

A  MEDICAL  librarian  has  charge  of  a  library  containing  only 
literature  upon  medicine,  surgery,  and  the  allied  sciences; 
i.e.,  anatomy,  physiology,  bacteriology,  medical  chemistry, 
medical  biography,  etc.  The  actual  work  does  not  differ 
materially  from  that  of  any  other  librarian,  imless  the  library 
be  located  in  a  hospital.  In  this  event,  the  library  is  prac- 
tically a  center  of  information  not  only  in  regard  to  medical 
topics,  but  in  regard  to  everything  which  has  to  do  with  the 
institution,  from  its  establishment  and  eariy  history  down  to 
information  concerning  the  last  appointment  on  its  staff. 

Training  necessary 

A  REGULAR  library  school  training  is  always  an  advantage, 
though  there  are  untrained  librarians  who  have  done  notable 
work.  Among  the  principal  training  schools  are:  the  Pratt 
Institute,  Brooklyn;  Simmons  College,  Boston;  and  the  Li- 
brary School  at  Albany,  where  there  is  a  large  medical 
library;  Columbia  University,  and  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Some  of  the  schools  give  summer  courses,  consisting  of  a  few 
weeks  of  intensive  training;  these,  however,  are  usually  in- 
tended for  those  who  have  had  some  experience  in  library 
work.  The  length  of  time  for  a  full  course  of  training  varies 
from  one  to  four  years,  according  to  the  amount  of  preparatory 
work. 

For  a  medical  librarian  at  least  an  elementary  knowledge  of 
Latin  and  Greek  is  most  desirable  on  account  of  the  many 
derivatives  in  medical  nomenclature;  German  and  French 
are  necessary,  for  translating  purposes  and  in  the  compilation 
of  lists  of  bibliography;  Italian  also  will  be  found  very  useful. 

Any  librarian  should  be  a  first-class  English  scholar,  should 


THE  MEDICAL  LIBRARIAN  309 

understand  typewriting,  be  able  to  read  proof,  and  stenog- 
raphy will  be  found  a  distinct  asset. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  call  for  medical  librarians  averages  well  with  that  for 
other  special  libraries.  Opportunities  for  advancement 
depend  upon  ability  and  aptitude  for  the  work.  Salaries  run 
from  $1200  per  year  to  $2500.  Translators  and  compilers  of 
bibliography  can  command  good  pay. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Natural  qualifications  include  a  pleasing  personality,  a  low, 
quiet  voice,  patience,  a  good  memory,  a  quick  understanding, 
and  plenty  of  tact.  Acquired  qualifications  are  neatness  and 
accuracy  in  work;  a  perfectly  plain,  legible  handwriting,  pref- 
erably vertical;  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  contents  of 
one's  own  library,  and  the  ability  to  turn  quickly  to  material 
wanted;  good  executive  ability,  and  the  habit  of  scanning. 

Advantages 

The  possibility  of  acquiring  a  vast  amount  of  scientific 
knowledge;  association  with  men  of  ability,  often  distinguished 
in  their  profession;  the  opportunity  to  assist  younger  women 
who  may  desire  to  follow  the  vocation;  the  contact,  through 
the  Medical  Library  Association,  with  other  medical  libra- 
rians. Hours  are  usually  good,  and  there  are  no  disadvan- 
iages  worth  mentioning. 

There  are  very  large  medical  libraries  in  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  country,  such  as  the  Library  of  the  Surgeon- 
General,  at  Washington;  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  New 
York;  the  Boston  Medical  Library;  Library  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,  Philadelphia;  Library  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical 
Faculty  of  Maryland,  Baltimore;  and  those  connected  with 
the  large  universities  which  support  medical  schools.  There 
is  a  demand  for  county  medical  libraries  in  districts  where 
there  is  no  large  city  conveniently  near.  . 


810  CAEEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Beading 

There  is  no  textbook  for  the  medical  librarian,  but  in  period- 
ical literature  there  is  much  that  is  worth  reading.  See  the  files 
of  the  "Bulletin  of  the  Medical  Library  Association,"  the 
"Medical  Library  and  Historical  Journal,"  and  "Modem 
Hospital";  also  many  of  the  essays  of  the  late  Sir  William 
Osier. 

Demand  for  record  librarians 

In  connection  with  medical  libraries  it  may  be  well  to  mention 
the  growing  demand  in  hospitals  for  record  librarians;  i.e., 
women  to  take  charge  of  clinical  records.  This  is  a  position 
which  in  some  hospitals  is  combined  with  that  of  medical 
librarian.  The  only  training  for  it  is  to  be  had  in  a  hospital 
where  a  good  system  has  been  established,  and  where  it  is 
possible  to  take  theory  and  practice  together.  A  thorough 
knowledge  of  elementary  anatomy,  and  of  medical  and  sur- 
gical nomenclature,  is  necessary  for  this  work,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  special  cataloguing  and  filing  connected  with  it.  The 
work  is  not  generally  known,  but  pay  is  good,  and  as  one's 
knowledge  increases  a  larger  salary  can  be  commanded.  The 
compilation  of  medical  and  surgical  statistics  is  required. 


LITERARY  WORK 
THE  BOOK-REVIEWER        J 

HELEN  BISHOP  DENNIS 

Boston  Herald 


i 


Description  of  occupation 

In  order  to  make  this  information  helpful,  it  is  necessary 
to  point  out  the  difference  between  a  book-reviewer  and 
literary  editor.  Nearly  every  first-class  newspaper  has  a 
literary  editor,  who  is  assisted  by  several  book-reviewers. 
The  literary  editor's  is  an  executive  position.  He  has  charge 
of  the  book  supplement  or  book  page,  as  the  case  may  be. 
He  writes  for  it,  plans  it,  and  gets  it  out. 

I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  say  more  about  the  work  of 
the  literary  editor,  since,  so  far  as  I  know,  there  are  no  women 
employed  in  that  capacity  on  any  of  our  newspapers.  I  believe 
there  are  no  opportunities  for  the  woman  undergraduate  to 
consider.  One  large  newspaper  I  know  of  would  not  have  a 
woman  as  literary  editor  because,  as  they  said,  "The  pub- 
lishers and  booksellers  would  not  take  a  woman  seriously." 
While  this  is  irritating,  and,  personally,  I  do  not  agree  with 
it,  the  facts  in  the  case  do  warrant  it  somewhat.  In  ten  years 
or  so,  of  course,  all  this  will  be  changed ! 

Book-reviewing  is  a  different  story.  There  are  many  women 
book-reviewers  on  the  newspapers  of  the  big  cities.  I  should 
think  that  so  far  as  the  present  "  demand  *'  is  concerned,  any 
newspaper  with  a  literary  department  might  offer  an  oppor- 
tunity to  the  undergraduate.  Some  reviewers  do  their  work 
at  home.  We  will  discount  them,  however,  as  being  too  far 
removed  from  the  actualities  of  newspaper  work.  The  women 
book-reviewers  of  whom  I  speak,  including  myself,  are  on  the 
staff  of  the  paper,  and  come  regularly  to  the  oflSce  every  day. 


S12  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

We  read  and  write  reviews  of  the  books  allotted  to  us.  If  there 
is  enough  space,  we  do  interviews  with  authors.  We  may  also 
Lave  a  column  of  news  items  about  books  and  authors  to  pre- 
pare for  each  book  supplement. 

Training  necessary 

To  begin  with,  a  wide  acquaintance  with  literature  is  essen- 
tial. As  for  education,  in  my  own  case  I  went  through  a  pub- 
lic grammar  school  and  spent  two  years  at  the  Cambridge 
Latin  School.  Because  of  illness  my  school  education  went 
no  further.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  I  went  as  a  stenographer 
into  the  offices  of  one  of  the  leading  publishing  houses  in  the 
country.  By  that  time,  however,  I  had  read  practically  every- 
thing by  the  great  English  writers,  and  in  translation  the 
works  of  the  French  and  German.  During  the  next  few  years 
I  explored  the  Spanish  and  Russian  authors.  I  spent  the  next 
seven  years  with  these  publishers,  as,  successively,  stenog- 
rapher, private  secretary,  advertising  writer,  and  manuscript 
reader.  The  training  and  education  I  received  there  were  in- 
valuable. I  am  sure  I  learned  far  more  than  I  should  have  at 
college.  Therefore,  although  valuable,  I  do  not  consider  a 
college  education  essential.  During  those  years  I  also  did 
some  newspaper  work  at  night,  thereby  learning  the  inside 
mechanism  of  writing  for  a  newspaper. 

This  I  regard  as  highly  necessary  for  any  woman  who  wants 
to  write  book  reviews  or  anything  else  for  a  newspaper.  The 
impractical  writer  is  the  b^te  noire  of  the  newspaper  editor. 
I  suggest  that  the  would-be  book-reviewer  —  granted  she 
has  ordinary  ability  to  write  —  first  get  a  place  as  a  reporter 
on  a  newspaper.  A  reporter  finds  it  necessary  to  write  just 
so  much  every  day.  If  she  is  told  to  write  something,  and  she 
knows  there  is  a  place  in  the  paper  which  she  must  fill,  she 
will  somehow  write,  however  badly.  Later,  she  will  find  her- 
self writing  well.  All  this  leads  to  the  habit  and  ability  of 
writing  easily,  simply,  and  concisely.  A  reporter  also  learns 
the  important  details  of  newspaper  routine.  Then,  when  she 


THE  BOOK-REVIEWER  313 

begins  to  do  book  reviews,  she  will  write,  not  as  an  imprac- 
tical outsider,  but  as  a  trained  newspaper  woman. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  little  advancement,  so  far  as  the  newspaper  is  con- 
cerned. But  good  newspaper  writing  often  leads  to  magazine 
work,  and  later  to  the  writing  of  books. 

Financial  return 

As  for  the  financial  return,  that  varies  with  individual  news- 
papers. A  book-reviewer,  on  the  regular  staff,  may  earn  any- 
where from  $25  to  $50  a  week,  according  to  her  usefulness 
and  the  importance  of  the  paper. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  are  those  of  all  news- 
paper work,  the  former,  I  think,  greatly  outnumbering  the 
latter.  A  woman  on  a  newspaper  is  really  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  men.  She  is  in  hourly  touch  with  great  affairs.  She 
has  an  opportunity  often  to  talk  with  the  people  who  do  big 
things  in  the  world.  She  learns  something  every  minute.  She 
receives  an  unexcelled  training,  not  only  in  writing,  but  in 
being  a  human  being.  The  greatest  disadvantage  lies  in  the 
more  or  less  irregular  hours  of  work.  Personally,  I  do  not 
consider  this  a  disadvantage;  any  one  who  wishes  to  succeed 
in  any  line  of  work  keeps  irregular  hours. 

Reading 

I  SUGGEST  reading  everything  in  print!  Never  neglect  to  read 
your  own  newspaper  every  morning.  Read  it  thoroughly. 
Never  forget  that  although  you  are  a  book-reviewer,  you  are, 
first,  a  newspaper  woman. 


314  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  EDITOR 

MABEL  ROLLINS 

Editor,  House  Beautiful 

Description  of  occupation 

In  discussing  "The  Editor,"  my  remarks  apply  to  the  editor 
of  a  monthly  magazine,  as  all  of  my  personal  experience  has 
been  with  that  type  of  work.  There  is  a  vast  difference  be- 
tween editing  a  newspaper  and  a  magazine.  There  is  consid- 
erable difference  between  editing  a  weekly  and  a  monthly 
magazine  —  a  difference  in  the  work  and  a  difference  in  the 
type  of  man  or  woman  needed  for  each. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  an  accurate  definition  of  the  title  "ed- 
itor, "  for  it  is  extremely  variable.  Theoretically  an  editor  of 
a  magazine  is  the  one  who  directs  the  policy  of  the  magazine 
and  who  orders  the  material  to  be  used.  There  are,  however, 
many  publishing  houses  where  the  officers  of  the  company 
direct  the  policy  and  where  they  hold  the  right  to  make  final 
decisions  about  what  appears  in  the  magazine.  They  may  or 
may  not  exercise  this  right.  In  some  offices  they  do;  in  others 
they  seldom  interfere  if  the  policy  laid  out  is  being  followed 
and  if  the  circulation  of  the  magazine  increases.  In  other  firms 
the  editor  has  practically  entire  authority.  He  is  selected 
because  he  has  given  evidence  of  being  the  right  one  to  edit 
the  magazine;  he  is  given  a  definite  sum  to  s^nd  on  the  mag- 
azine and  he  is  left  alone  to  produce  a  successful  publication. 

The  actual  work  done  by  editors  depends  on  the  editor. 
Roughly  speaking,  they  may  be  divided  into  three  classes: 
First,  the  editor  who  reaches  the  office  before  any  one  else 
on  the  staff,  and  who  is  the  last  one  to  leave.  These  editors 
do  a  large  proportion  of  the  work  —  plan  the  policy  of  the 
magazine,  read  a  large  bulk  of  manuscripts  sent  in,  work  out 
the  make-up  of  the  pages  of  the  magazine,  and  see  every  as- 
piring artist  or  author  who  comes  in.  At  the  other  end  of  the 
line  of  editors  may  be  found  those  who  are  at  the  office  a  very 


THE  EDITOR  315 

small  part  of  the  day,  who  pass  all  of  the  work  over  to  the  as- 
sistant editors.  I  doubt  if  there  are  many  of  these  editors  left 
to-day,  for  the  magazines  which  they  edited  —  theoretically 
—  naturally  fell  behind  and  others  were  found  who  were  more 
interested.  Right  here  it  might  be  said,  however,  that  any 
one  working  with  such  an  editor  has  a  wonderful  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  all  the  phases  of  the  work  and  to  make  more 
rapid  strides  toward  the  final  goal  of  an  editorship.  Between 
these  two  extremes  is  the  class  of  editors  —  and  I  think  they 
are  the  most  successful — who  have  learned  to  surround  them- 
selves with  capable  assistants  who  can  relieve  them  from  much 
of  the  detail  and  leave  them  free  to  turn  their  attention  to 
the  more  important  work. 

Training  necessary 

While  most  of  the  editors  whom  I  know  are  college  graduates, 
all  are  not,  and  the  latter  group  are  none  the  less  successful. 
These  men  and  women  realized  that  an  education  is  not  lim- 
ited by  the  academic  studies  within  the  four  walls  of  a  class- 
room. They  have  read  very  widely;  they  have  studied  human 
nature  very  keenly.  It  would  seem  to  me  that  the  courses  in 
journalism,  such  as  those  given  in  Columbia  University  and 
other  colleges,  would  be  excellent  preparation  for  one  desiring 
to  become  an  editor.  Actual  experience  in  journalism  is  con- 
sidered an  asset.  The  experiment  is  still  too  new,  however,  for 
one  to  have  any  data  on  this.  Courses  in  English  and  history 
are  particularly  desirable  for  the  student  hoping  to  become  an 
editor  —  the  more  the  better-  And  the  courses  on  short-story 
writing  are  invaluable. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Advancement  in  the  editorial  field  is  not  usually  rapid.  The 
number  of  full-fledged  editors  is  of  course  limited  by  the  num- 
ber of  magazines.  Openings  occur  in  three  ways:  the  editor 
dies  or  becomes  too  old  to  continue  the  work;  a  woman  editor 
marries  and  gives  up  her  business  career;  the  editor  decides  to 


316  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

enter  another  field.  In  the  event  of  one  of  these  conditions 
an  opening  is  made  for  one  of  the  associate  editors  of  the  same 
magazine  or  perhaps  an  editor  of  a  similar  but  smaller  mag- 
azine. The  greatest  opportunities  are  found  in  New  York 
City,  for  there  are  found  the  most  magazines.  There  are  a 
few  magazines  in  other  cities,  but  even  for  these  editors  are 
usually  sought  who  have  received  their  training  in  New  York. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  of  editors  are  not  as  large  as  they  ought  to  be. 
They  are  not  as  large  as  those  in  the  more  commercial  lines. 
I  know  of  two  editors  of  large  magazines  who  have  within  a 
few  months  deserted  the  editorial  field  to  engage  in  adver- 
tising work.  In  one  case  this  was  due,  I  understand,  directly 
to  the  fact  that  the  editor  did  not  feel  he  was  receiving  enough 
for  his  work,  nor  as  much  as  he  could  make  in  the  advertising 
field.  The  editor  of  one  of  the  largest  women's  magazines  is 
getting  $10,000  a  year;  there  may  be  one  or  two  receiving  a 
larger  salary,  but  I  am  very  certain  there  are  not  more.  This 
would  seem  to  be  very  near  the  present  maximum;  the  mini- 
mum I  do  not  know.  One  of  the  associate  editors  —  a  woman 
—  on  a  large  magazine  is  receiving  $5000  a  year,  and  it  is  fair 
to  add  that  she  has  the  privilege  of  spending  a  portion  of  each 
day  writing  stories,  which  net  her  nearly  as  much  again. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

An  understanding  of  human  nature  —  sometimes  natural 
and  sometimes  acquired  —  is  absolutely  essential  to  a  suc- 
cessful editor,  for  the  editor  must  know  what  interests  the 
public  to  produce  a  magazine  which  the  public  will  buy.  A 
study  of  people's  problems,  a  desire  to  help  in  the  solution,  in 
short  a  genuine  love  for  people  in  general  is  at  least  desirable. 
There  are  commercial  editors,  but  their  magazines  show  it. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  is  fascinating.  You  are  dealing  with  people,  even 

though  only  through  the  medium  of  a  printed  page.  You  are 


HEAD  OF  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT    317 

carrying  them  a  message  —  whether  it  be  a  message  of  hope  or 
inspiration,  or  only  a  bit  of  momentary  entertainment  to  a 
weary  one.  You  are  helping  to  mould  the  thought  of  the  na- 
tion (a  big  responsibility,  for  one  never  knows  the  far-reach- 
ing effects  of  articles  and  stories  in  a  magazine).  The  editor 
meets  people  who  are  doing  things  in  a  worth-while  way  — • 
leaders  of  the  big  movements,  authors  and  artists.  The  num- 
ber of  people  one  meets  and  knows  is  limited  only  by  the  time 
one  has  available. 

The  hours  of  confinement  are  no  longer  than  in  any  line  of 
work  where  one  is  not  in  one's  own  business,  and  in  some  cases 
they  are  shorter.  The  editors  of  some  magazines  have  an  op- 
portunity for  limited  travel  which,  of  course,  is  always  de- 
sirable. 

The  work  of  an  editor  is  like  any  other  work;  it  is  what  one 
makes  it.  The  answer  is  to  find  out  what  work  one  really  en- 
joys and  then  prepare  for  it. 


THE  HEAD  OF  THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPART- 
MENT OF  A  PUBLISHLNG  HOUSE 

SARAH  R.  MARSHALL 

Head  of  the  Educational  Department,  Atlantic  Monthly  Press,  Boston 

Have  you  ever  thought  about  becoming  the  head  of  the 
educational  department  of  a  publishing  house,  when  planning 
to  enter  some  occupation  upon  graduation?  If  you  have  not, 
this  field  of  work  which  is  now  opening  up  for  women,  offers 
many  advantages.  It  automatically  continues  one's  educa- 
tion, as  every  new  book  has  to  be  studied  as  it  comes  out.  It 
brings  one  into  direct  contact  with  highly  intelligent,  intel- 
lectual, educated,  and  cultivated  people.  The  hours  are  good. 
Usually  they  are  from  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  on  week  days  with  an 
hour  at  noon  for  luncheon,  and  a  half-day's  work  on  Saturday. 
There  are  also  numerous  one-day  holidays  that  shops  and 
factories  do  not  have.  Two  weeks'  vacation  are  given  in  the 


318  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

summer,  with  pay.  The  business  surroundings  are  usually 
quite  attractive.  You  have  at  your  disposal  all  of  the  advan- 
tages of  the  largest  cities,  such  as  good  lectures,  fine  libraries, 
splendid  art  museums,  and  the  best  of  music  and  theaters. 
Almost  all  of  the  large  educational  publishers  have  branch 
offices  in  such  cities  as  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago,  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Atlanta,  so  one  may  practically  choose  the  section 
of  the  country  in  which  one  desires  to  locate. 

The  field  is  large  at  the  present  time,  for  women  are  just 
beginning  to  demonstrate  their  ability  to  carry  on  this  work. 
Up  to  a  few  years  ago  not  many  women  had  become,  in  name, 
heads  of  educational  departments,  though  a  number  of  them 
may  have  done  the  actual  work  while  the  masculine  head  was 
off  taking  a  "much-needed  rest,"  playing  golf  or  fishing,  or 
motoring  around  in  the  sunshine  and  fresh  air,  to  create  the 
new  and  necessary  brain  cells  to  enable  him  to  do  his  work. 
But  now,  more  and  more  presidents  of  publishing  houses  are 
waking  up  to  the  fact  that  women  do  not  seem  to  require,  or 
to  demand,  so  many  of  these  trips;  that  women  come  in  punc- 
tually when  the  office  opens  in  the  morning;  that  women  take 
only  one  hour  at  lunch-time  instead  of  two  or  three;  that 
women  do  not  find  it  necessary  to  leave  the  office  before  the 
regular  closing  hour  in  the  afternoon  —  in  a  word,  that  women 
are  not  only  capable  of  holding  such  positions,  but  give  a  full 
measure  of  work,  heaped  up,  pressed  down,  and  running  over. 
So  that  this  is  now  a  comparatively  new  and  fresh  field  of 
work  for  women. 

Preparation  necessary 

In  training  to  become  the  head  of  the  educational  depart- 
ment, a  thorough  knowledge  of  good  English  is  absolutely 
essential.  Stress,  therefore,  should  be  laid  upon  this  subject 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  college  course.  The  more 
one  knows  about  English  and  American  literature  and  the 
more  good  compositions  and  essays  one  can  write,  the  better 
qualified  one  is  to  enter  this  field  of  work,  for  a  large  vocabu- 


HEAD  OF  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT    319 

lary  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  meaning  of  the 
words  one  uses  are  necessary  to  compose  the  good  business 
letters  which  have  to  be  fluently  dictated  to  stenographers  — 
letters  which  will  pull  big  orders  from  school  boards  and  school 
superintendents.  The  fundamental  principles  of  advertising 
should  be  studied  as  well  as  the  practice  of  writing  headlines, 
designing  lay-outs,  etc.  A  knowledge  of  stenography  and 
typewriting  is  also  helpful,  for  they  often  prove  the  entering 
wedge  into  a  good  office.  It  is  also  well  to  know  a  good  system 
of  filing.  All  of  these  subjects  should  be  carefully  covered  in 
the  college  training. 

The  next  step  will  then  be  to  secure  a  position  as  an  office 
worker  in  an  educational  house,  for  there  is  no  post-graduate 
course  that  equals  the  actual  experience  that  one  will  be 
able  to  obtain  from  doing  this  actual  office  work.  It  is  better 
not  to  take  a  regular  stenographic  position  or  go  into  editorial 
work;  for  if  one  should  prove  to  be  a  "good"  stenographer, 
her  chief  is  apt  to  keep  her  busy  taking  dictation  and  typing 
his  letters,  and  she  will  not  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  much 
about  the  other  work  that  is  going  on  around  her.  Therefore, 
when  applying  for  work,  if  the  employment  manager  asks 
what  you  can  do,  look  over  toward  the  desks  where  half  a 
dozen  or  more  girls  are  sitting  with  stacks  of  cards  in  front  of 
them,  and  say  you  "can  do  anything  that  those  girls  over 
there  are  doing."  When  you  are  given  a  position,  make  up 
your  mind  to  prove  to  yourself  and  to  your  employer  that  you 
can  do  these  things.  Get  acquainted  with  each  girl  and  learn 
to  do,  by  doing,  the  work  of  each,  for  you  will  need  to  know 
all  about  the  details  of  the  following  when  you  are  head:  ad- 
dressing envelopes,  filling  in  names  and  addresses  on  form 
letters,  filing  catalogue  cards,  filing  correspondence,  operating 
the  multigraph  machine,  multigraphing  the  circular  letters, 
keeping  stock  of  pamphlets  and  circulars,  and  keeping  school 
lists  up  to  date. 

When  your  chief  goes  away  to  take  the  "rest  cure,"  that 
will  be  your  chance  to  do  his  work  and  to  acquire  some  real 


320  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

executive  ability.  He  will  welcome  your  offer  to  make  up 
"copy"  for  the  cards  and  pamphlets  to  advertise  the  new 
books;  to  get  estimates  on  them  from  various  printers,  and  to 
read  the  proof  when  it  is  returned  from  the  printer.  You 
will  also  learn  when  and  to  whom  to  send  examination 
copies  of  the  textbooks,  how  to  keep  track  of  these  copies, 
and  how  to  follow  them  up.  This  "follow-up"  work  is  very 
important.  It  must  be  carried  on  persistently,  though  diplo- 
matically, from  the  time  examination  copies  are  sent  until 
the  adoption  is  secured.  During  this  actual  oflBce  training, 
you  will  also  be  able  to  learn  when  and  how  to  go  about  se- 
curing "State  adoptions."  This  means  that  there  are  certain 
States  in  the  Union  that  appoint  a  State  Board  of  Education 
to  select  and  determine  just  what  textbooks  shall  be  used  in 
the  public  schools  of  that  State.  It  is,  of  course,  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  publishers  to  get  as  many  textbooks  "adopted" 
as  possible,  as  this  secures  the  sale  of  these  books  through- 
out that  specific  State  for  periods  of  four,  five,  and  sometimes 
eight  years.  To  secure  these  adoptions,  you  must  be  able  to 
show  and  prove  to  the  State  Board  that  the  texts  which  your 
house  publishes  and  which  you  submit  for  examination  are 
not  only  equal  to,  but  are  superior  to  those  submitted  by 
other  publishers.  To  do  this,  you  must  know  your  texts 
thoroughly,  and  believe  in  them  implicitly,  or  you  will  never 
be  able  to  convince  others  of  their  superiority. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Patience,  perseverance,  and  the  power  to  cooperate  and  work 
harmoniously  with  other  oflSce  workers  are  very  desirable 
qualifications  for  the  head  to  possess.  Poise,  a  pleasing  per- 
sonality, and  the  ability  to  meet  prospective  authors  and  cus- 
tomers and  to  put  them  at  their  ease,  will  enable  you  to  sus- 
tain your  position  with  success.  If,  added  to  these,  you  have 
ambition,  enthusiasm,  and  the  ability  to  concentrate  on  your 
work,  you  may  rest  assured  that  your  employers  will  feel  that 
they  have  been  fortunate  in  securing  your  services. 


HEAD  OF  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT    321 

Financial  return 

Salaries  are,  of  course,  dependent  upon  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness you  can  secure  for  your  firm.  The  minimum  salary  to 
begin  is  about  $1800  per  year,  with  specific  agreement  as  to 
increases  as  you  prove  your  ability.  Publishing  houses  that 
do  not  employ  men  to  represent  them,  or  to  travel  and  visit 
schools  and  Boards  of  Education,  pay  their  heads  of  educa- 
tional departments  larger  salaries,  as  a  rule,  than  houses  that 
employ  field  men,  for  where  there  are  no  field  men,  the  head 
has  to  carry  on  more  extensive  correspondence  and  has  to  do 
more  promotive  work,  and,  as  the  house  is  at  no  expense  for 
a  traveling  salesman,  better  salaries  can  be  paid  for  the  work 
done  in  the  office. 

Disadvantages 

About  the  only  disadvantage  of  this  work  for  women  is,  that 
the  work  must  be  done  indoors  instead  of  in  the  open,  but 
much  of  this  disadvantage  may  be  overcome  by  having  one's 
office  located  so  as  to  secure  sufficient  fresh  air  and  simshine 
from  available  windows. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  following  are  the  largest  and  best-known  educational 
publishing  houses  in  which  there  may  always  be  available 
positions : 

AUyn  &  Bacon  50  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

American  Book  Company  100    Washington    Sq.,    New 

York  City. 
D.  Appleton  &  Company  35  W.  32d  St.,  New  York  City. 

Associate  Press  347  Madison  Ave.  (cor.  45th 

St.),  New  York. 
Atlantic  Monthly  Press  8  Arlington  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  A.  S.  Barnes  Company       381  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York 

City 
P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Com- 
pany Philadelphia,  Pa. 


CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 


Indianapolis,  Ind. 

353  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York 

City. 
W.  116th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

449  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York 

City. 
681   Fifth  Ave.,   New  York 

City. 
15  Ashburton  Place,  Boston, 

Mass. 
77  Madison  Ave.,  New  York 
City. 
Harper  &  Brothers  Franklin  Sq.,  New  York  City. 

George  G.    Harrap  &  Com-  2  Portsmouth  St.,  Kingsway 

pany 
Harvard  University  Press 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Company 
Hinds,  Hayden  &  Eldredge, 


Bobbs-Merrill  Company 
The  Century  Company 

Columbia  University  Press 
The  Comstock  Publishing 

Company 
Dodd,  Mead,  &  Company 

E.  P.  Dutton  &  Company 

Ginn  and  Company 

Gregg  Publishing  Company 


Inc. 
Henry  Holt  &  Company 

Houghton  Mifflin  Company 
J.  P.  Lippincott  Company 

Little,  Brown  &  Company 


W.  C.  2,  London,  Eng. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

50  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

11-15  Union  Sq.,  West,  New 
York  City. 

19  W.  44th  St.,  New  York 
City. 

4  Park  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

E.  Washington  Sq.,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

34  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 


Longmans,    Green    &   Com-    443  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York 


pany 
The  Macmillan  Company 

G.  &  C.  Merriam  Company 
Newsom  &  Company 
Oxford  University  Press 
The  Palmer  Company 


City. 
64-66  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York 

City. 
Springfield,  Mass. 
73  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City 
35  W.  32d  St.,  New  York  City 
120    Boylston    St.,    Boston, 

Mass. 


THE  MAGAZINE  EDITOR  32S 

George  Philip  &  Son,  Ltd.         32  Fleet  St.,  London,  E.  C.  4, 

Eng. 

L.  L.  Poates  Publishing  Com-    78  Walker  St.,  New  York  City 
pany 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  2-6  45th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Scott,   Foresman  and  Com-    623  S.  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago, 
pany  111. 

Charles  Scribner's  Sons  597  Fifth  Ave.,   New  York 

City. 

The   University   of   Chicago 

Press  5740  Ellis  Ave.,  Chicago,  HI. 

Volta  Bureau  35th  St.  and  Volta  PL,  Wash- 

ington, D.C. 

John  C.  Winston  Company       Winston  Bldg.,  Philadelphia, 

Pa. 

World  Book  Company  Yonkers-on-Hudson,  N.Y. 

Yale  University  Press  New  Haven,  Conn. 


THE  MAGAZINE  EDITOR 

LEONARDA  GOSS 

Associate  Editor,  The  Delineator,  Butterick  Publishing  Co, 

Description  of  occupation 

Editing  ranges  from  the  actual  supervision  of  a  publication 
down  to  the  most  obscure  stage  of  preparing  manuscripts  for 
the  printer.  The  actual  work  done  varies  with  the  stage  an 
editor  holds  in  the  scale.  The  editor-in-chief  plans  the  con- 
tents; orders  and  vouchers  manuscripts;  interviews  writers; 
confers  in  matters  of  policy  with  the  publisher,  advertising 
director,  circulation  manager,  and  directs  the  work  of  the  edi- 
torial staff.  The  assistant  editors  are  vicegerents  for  the  editor, 
carrying  out  details  of  the  plan  formulated  by  the  chief  of 
staff.  Their  work  is  creative  to  the  extent  that  they  can  supply 
the  editor  with  acceptable  ideas  to  be  incorporated  into  his 
or  her  schedules  for  future  issues. 


324  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Preparation  necessary 

Practically  no  school  can  train  one  for  the  business  of  edit- 
ing, for  editing,  though  partly  a  matter  of  technic,  is  still 
more  largely  a  matter  of  relationships.  These  human  contacts 
are  made  with  heads  of  various  departments  of  the  publishing 
house,  the  composing-room,  the  proof-room,  the  art  depart- 
ment, advertising  department,  and  circulation  department, 
and  above  all,  with  the  millions  who  constitute  the  vast 
reading  public  of  America's  subscription  lists. 

The  actual  technic  of  preparing  copy,  reading  proof,  order- 
ing engravings  and  half-tones  (sometimes  independently  and 
sometimes  cooperatively  with  the  art  director),  planning 
page  arrangements  and  making  up  the  book  finally  when  the 
monthly  or  weekly  "closing  date"  arrives,  are  details  which 
can  be  learned  to  a  certain  extent  in  any  college  or  university 
giving  really  practical  courses  in  journalism.  Almost  all  the 
better  State  universities  offer  such  courses,  and  the  tendency 
is  to  lift  them  out  of  the  field  of  academic  English  and  make 
them  agree  with  the  actual  journalism  of  New  York  or 
Chicago. 

As  a  foundation  on  which  to  build  the  courses  in  journalism, 
a  cultural  education  has  its  advantage,  though  when  one  is 
actually  at  work,  most  academism  must  be  relegated  beneath 
the  threshold  of  consciousness.  Some  of  the  best  editors  boast 
no  A.B.'s,  but  are  gifted  with  an  almost  intuitive  knowledge  of 
human  nature  and  its  wants,  and  hold  with  that  the  graduate 
degree  of  a  vivid,  wide  knowledge  of  many  kinds  and  classes 
of  people. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Usually  the  opportunity  for  advancement  in  editorial  work 
is  swift.  As  almost  all  training  must  be  gained  in  the  work 
itself  rather  than  in  schools,  colleges,  or  universities,  an  ed- 
itor, so  trained,  has  an  equipment  that  promotes  her  at  once 
to  the  place  higher  up  when  its  occupant,  in  what  Kathleen 
Norris  has  called  the  "merry-go-round  of  editors,"  passes  on 


THE  MAGAZINE  EDITOR  325 

to  such  an  Elysian  field  as  the  independent  life  of  a  free-lance 
writer. 

Financial  return 

The  salary  depends  on  the  editor  and  the  firm  for  which  she 
works.  In  New  York,  the  publishing  center  of  America,  the 
salary  covers  a  gamut  from  about  $15,000  a  year  with,  per- 
haps, a  Christmas  bonus,  to  $18  a  week  to  the  newly  appren- 
ticed general-utility  person  on  the  staff. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  editor  must  be  equipped  by  nature  with  an  inborn  under- 
standing of  people;  with  an  inspiration  both  practical  and 
visionary;  with  a  sense  of  drama  and  with  the  "nose  for  news" 
essential  not  only  for  directing  the  woman's  page  on  the  morn- 
ing or  evening  daily,  but  also  for  the  weekly  or  monthly  mag- 
azine. A  broad  general  education  capped  by  special  courses 
in  journalism  can  help  her  develop  skill  to  judge  swiftly  the 
technic  and  the  human  appeal  of  fiction  or  article.  At  her 
desk,  once  she  is  at  work  in  the  editorial  office,  her  power  to 
scan  the  typed  or  printed  page  with  swift  but  unfaltering 
accuracy  is  one  of  her  greatest  assets.  That  power  is  a  function 
of  the  trained  mind.  It  can  be  intensified  by  concentrated  ap- 
plication to  such  office  details  as  manuscript  reading  and  proof- 
reading, for  no  matter  how  exalted  her  editorial  position  may 
be,  she  will  have  the  typed  and  the  printed  page  always  with 
her.  To  be  able  to  cognize  its  most  essential  detail  almost  with 
one  swift  glance  is  a  degree  of  development  won  only  after 
years  of  dealing  with  type. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

To  one  who  has  really  a  basic,  deep  interest  in  people,  editing 
is  a  supreme  pleasure  —  for  even  office  work  means  almost  a 
day-long  series  of  conferences  with  visitors  or  associates.  One 
goes,  to-day,  to  an  author's  tea,  to-morrow  to  a  social  confer- 
ence, next  day  to  a  luncheon  of  political  leaders.  One  dines 


326  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

on  the  Avenue  or  on  the  East  Side.  One  receives  at  one's 
oflBce  autocratic,  successful  authors  or  humble  beginners  eager 
to  accept  either  advice  or  encouragement. 

Perhaps  the  fundamental  disadvantage  is  the  irksomeness 
of  the  "desk  job."  The  person  who  contents  herself  with  that 
usually  is  hoping  for  the  day  when  she  shall  be  free  to  do  the 
writing  that  the  lay  public  always  firmly  believes  is  the  chief 
part  of  the  editing  trade,  but  which  is  rarely  its  concomitant. 

Power  unlimited  for  good  or  evil  is  in  the  editor's  hands. 
Perhaps  only  those  to  whom  power,  as  such,  is  meaningless, 
should  be  trusted  by  the  Fates  with  editorial  sway.  The  per- 
sonally ambitious  editor  is  a  threat  to  society.  His  or  her  con- 
trol over  the  millions  who  believe,  literally,  every  word  of  the 
printed  page,  is  almost  hypnotic.  But  the  one  who,  despite  the 
limitations  of  commercial  organizations,  still  holds  to  a  frag- 
ment of  idealism,  is  a  potent  force  in  the  nation's  well-being. 

Supply  and  demand 

In  the  field  of  magazines  the  demand  for  trained  editors  is 
limited.  Outside  New  York  there  is  little  opportunity,  for 
New  York  is  the  heart  of  the  publishing  world.  Editing  the 
woman's  page  of  the  dailies,  however,  is  not  limited  to  Boston 
or  Chicago  or  New  York. 

Reading 

So  little  of  editing  can  be  learned  outside  the  editorial  oflSce 
that  there  is  little  preparatory  reading  which  can  benefit  a 
neophyte.  Bleyer's  "Newspaper  Writing  and  Editing" 
(Houghton  Mifflin  Company)  is  helpful  to  one  whose  face  is 
set  toward  newspaper  work.  W.  B.  Pitkin's  "Art  and  the 
Business  of  Story  Writing"  (Macmillan),  or  B.  C.  WiUiams's 
**  Handbook  on  Story  Writing,"  is  valuable  to  the  magazine 
editor  who  will  sit  in  judgment  on  fiction.  But  bibliographies 
do  not  exist  nor  can  they  be  compiled,  for  real  books  on  editing 
are  as  yet  unwritten.  As  for  rhetorics,  thesauruses,  and  one's 
college  textbooks  on  English,  their  contents  are  best  forgotten. 


THE  PROOF-READER  827 

exactly  as  the  teacher  in  the  schoolroom  promptly  forgets  her 
textbook  psychology  and  applies  herself  to  learning  the  psy- 
chology of  actual  life. 


THE  PROOF-READER 

ALICE  E.  EVANS 
The  Riverside  Press 

Description  of  occupation 

Proof-eeading  is  primarily,  as  the  term  implies,  a  reading 
given  to  printed  sheets,  known  as  "proof-sheets,"  for  the  pur- 
pose of  correcting  any  errors  made  by  the  type-setter  whose 
work  is  done  from  "copy"  furnished  by  the  author  of  the 
work  to  be  printed.  For  the  purposes  of  this  article  the  dis- 
cussion will  be  confined  to  the  work  of  making  books,  as 
proof-reading  for  printers  of  books  is  more  carefully  done  and 
comprises  more  than  that  done  in  "commercial"  work,  which 
includes  circulars,  advertising  matter,  etc.,  of  a  more  ephem- 
eral nature. 

The  "first  proof"  is  usually  taken  from  the  long  galley  of 
type  as  it  comes  from  the  compositor  or  the  machine  and 
is  <read  by  the  proof-reader,  who  marks,  in  the  margin  of 
the  proof,  all  corrections  of  errors  made  by  the  compositor 
in  spelling,  punctuation,  use  of  italics,  capitalization,  etc. 
This  is  done  in  conjunction  with  a  "copy-reader,"  who  reads 
aloud  from  the  author's  manuscript,  the  proof-reader  following 
the  reading  on  the  proof.  This  is  the  routine  of  the  reading, 
and  if  the  "copy"  has  been  carefully  prepared  for  the  printer 
the  work  is  much  simplified.  However,  in  book-work  the  trained 
reader  is  careful  to  read  the  matter  with  the  content  always 
in  mind  and  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  faults  more 
serious  than  those  merely  of  spelling  or  punctuation. 

In  any  work  the  proof-reader  is  supposed  to  note  errors  in 
statement  of  facts,  faulty  diction  or  construction  of  a  sen- 
tence, improper  use  of  metaphor,  or  inconsistent  statements. 


328  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

misuse  of  words,  or  errors  of  similar  nature.  These  are  to  be 
called  to  the  attention  of  the  author  who  is  to  see  a  corrected 
proof  of  the  work.  This  method  is  usually  followed  unless  the 
"copy'*  furnished  by  the  author,  as  sometimes  happens,  is  so 
faulty  as  to  require  editing,  in  which  case  it  is  usual  to  have 
the  copy  corrected  before  it  is  given  to  the  compositor. 
Ordinarily  the  proof-reader  is  not  expected  to  do  more  than 
correct  typographical  errors  and  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
author  to  matters  requiring  change  by  him. 

In  book-work,  in  addition  to  the  reading  of  the  "first  proof  " 
another  reading  is  given  usually  after  the  type  has  been 
"made-up"  into  pages.  This  reading  is  a  silent  reading  and 
is  done  after  the  author  or  editor  has  made  whatever  changes 
he  desires  in  the  proofs  submitted  to  him. 

Preparation  required 

There  is  no  school,  to  the  writer's  knowledge,  giving  actual 
training  in  proof-reading.  The  best  preparation  for  the  work 
is  a  thorough  grounding  in  English,  a  large  acquaintance 
with  English  literature  and  with  the  classics  of  all  languages 
through  the  best  translations  if  not  from  the  originals.  No 
knowledge,  however  remote,  ever  comes  amiss  to  the  proof- 
reader, as  he  is  sure  to  be  called  upon  to  use  it  at  some  time. 

A  working  knowledge  of  the  modern  languages,  especially 
French,  German,  Spanish,  and  Italian,  while  perhaps  not 
essential,  is  undoubtedly  of  great  value  and  adds  considerably 
to  the  usefulness  of  the  proof-reader.  In  some  branches  of  the 
work  this  knowledge  is  required,  as  in  those  printing  houses 
where  textbooks  are  made.  In  any  case  it  is  a  decided  advan- 
tage. 

In  addition,  the  capacity  for  taking  infinite  pains  is  needed, 
good  eye-sight  and  the  power  of  close  observation  of  small 
details,  a  memory  for  dates,  names,  and  events  which  can  be 
relied  upon  for  accuracy. 

The  training  of  a  proof-reader  can  best  be  obtained  by  doing 
the  actual  work,  as  this  method  trains  the  eye  for  differences 


THE  PROOF-READER  329 

in  the  "faces"  of  type  used  in  printing,  for  picking  up  the 
numerous  details,  too  many  to  describe,  with  which  the  proof- 
reader must  be  familiar,  and  which  must  become  so  familiar 
to  the  eye  as  to  be  seen  without  conscious  effort.  With  the 
preparation  mentioned  already,  and  given  the  natural  apti- 
tudes of  good  eyes  and  alertness,  with  meticulous  attention 
to  details,  the  training  ought  not  to  require  but  a  few  months. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  question  of  the  opportunity  for  advancement  as  a  proof- 
reader is  hard  to  answer.  A  good  proof-reader  is  so  scarce  a 
product  that  when  found  the  printer  is  loath  to  let  him  do  any- 
thing else.  It  sometimes  happens  that  an  editorial  position  is 
open  to  a  proof-reader  showing  critical  taste  and  judgment. 
More  often,  however,  he  is  apt  to  be  retained  where,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  printer,  he  can  do  the  most  good. 

Financial  return 

Pay  for  proof-reading  has  always  been  lower  than  the  qualifi- 
cations required  for  doing  the  work  would  seem  to  demand. 
This  has  in  recent  years  been  more  or  less  changed,  and  while 
the  pay  is  still  not  commensurate  with  the  work  done,  it  is 
much  better,  ranging  in  and  around  Boston  from  $25  to  $40 
per  week  in  those  plants  doing  book-work. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  contact  of  the  proof-reader  with  his  fellows  is  much  like 
that  in  other  occupations  in  business  life.  The  work  is  neces- 
sarily an  indoor  occupation,  often  done  under  distracting 
conditions,  as  proof-readers  have  not  usually  separate  rooms 
in  which  to  work.  The  hours  are  usually  eight,  with  a  half- 
holiday  on  Saturday. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  excellent  proof-readers  is  an  exigent  one 
always.  Proprietors  of  printing  houses  will  all  admit  that 
first-class  readers  are  in  demand. 


330  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Reading 

The  most  exhaustive  book  on  this  subject  that  the  writer  has 
seen  in  English  is  that  of  the  late  Theodore  De  Vinne,  "  Cor- 
rect Composition,"  in  the  trilogy  "The  Practice  of  Typog- 
raphy," published  by  the  Oswald  Publishing  Company,  New 
York.  This  gives  much  that  the  proof-reader  must  know, 
and  is  sufficiently  broad  in  its  treatment  of  the  subject  to 
be  used  for  general  purposes. 

THE  TRANSLATOR 

DORA  MOLDENHAUER 

Description  of  occupation 

To  the  commonplace  mind  translating  appears  a  dry,  aca- 
demic, and  futile  occupation.  Yet  to  the  chosen  it  is  fascina- 
ting, creative  work,  appealing  with  equal  force  to  the  literary 
as  to  the  scientific  intellect. 

Translating  presents  both  technical  and  mental  difficulties. 
The  external  characteristics  of  any  language,  the  variety 
and  weight  of  its  vowels,  the  cadence  of  its  words,  the  rhythm 
of  its  sentences,  are  the  purely  technical  features  which  in 
translating  may  change  the  meaning  of  any  text  because  one 
language  is  altogether  different  from  another.  This  "  alien- 
ism" between  two  languages  is  generally  keenly  felt  on  ac- 
count of  personal  Hmitations  in  trying  adequately  to  render 
thoughts,  feelings,  emotions,  and  passions  which,  though 
common  to  all  human  beings,  are  most  difficult  to  translate. 

Good  translations  are  rare.  "A  good  translation  is  that  in 
which  the  merit  of  the  original  work  is  so  completely  trans- 
fused into  another  language  as  to  be  distinctly  apprehended 
and  as  strongly  felt  by  a  native  of  the  country  to  which  the 
language  belongs  as  it  is  by  those  who  speak  the  language  of 
the  original  work." 


THE  TRANSLATOR  831 

Necessary  training 

There  are  three  kinds  of  translations  —  literary,  scientific, 
commercial.  All  presuppose  a  thorough  general  cultural  edu- 
cation such  as  is  offered  by  normal  schools  and  colleges  in 
good  standing. 

Length  of  training  depends  upon  the  special  professional 
field  elected. 

The  language  or  languages  from  which  one  wishes  to  trans- 
late and  one's  own  tongue  should  be  thoroughly  studied. 
Even  in  undergraduate  years,  language  courses  offered  in 
grammar,  composition,  literature,  should  be  taken  as  well  as 
one  or  more  courses  in  the  history  of  the  peoples  whose  lan- 
guage one  intends  to  master. 

An  elementary  course  in  general  psychology  may  also  be 
taken  profitably,  as  it  may  help  develop  an  individual  method 
of  translating. 

Specialization  in  scientific  translating  requires  post-grad- 
uate training  along  broad  general  outlines  of  the  particular 
science  chosen  so  as  to  become  familiar  with  its  basic  theories 
and  ordinary  terminology.  In  order  to  render  a  good  trans- 
lation of  any  scientific  work,  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  read 
extensively  along  similar  lines.  The  translator  must  expect  to 
do  much  outside  reading  for  which  no  immediate  remunera- 
tion can  be  anticipated. 

Specialization  in  commercial  translating  calls  for  brief 
post-graduate  training  in  some  commercial  school  in  order  to 
gain  a  knowledge  of  business  methods  and  terms. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  opportunity  for  financial  advancement  in  this  pro- 
fession if  the  translator  is  connected  with  an  institution,  a 
bank,  or  a  business  corporation.  These  big  houses  have  on 
their  staff  translators  who  are  trained  in  the  special  business 
field  in  which  they  are  employed.  The  financial  prizes  fall  to 
these  salaried  translators. 


332  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

As  a  rule  commercial  translating  is  the  worst  paid;  while 
scientific  translating  —  i.e.  certain  phases  of  medical  work  — 
pays  as  well  as  literary  prose  translating.  Poetry  and  song- 
translating  brings  in  good  financial  returns  since  few  peo- 
ple can  successfully  undertake  it.  But  no  minimum  and 
maximum  rates  can  be  stated,  for  compensation  depends  alto- 
gether upon  the  kind  of  translating  required,  the  customary 
local  rate  of  pay  for  such  work,  and  the  actual  competition 
in  it. 

Qualifications  necessary  to  success 

The  translator  is  bom,  not  made.  A  language  must  be  sensed, 
or,  in  other  words,  there  must  be  an  inborn  musical  apprecia- 
tion of  its  proper  harmony  and  rhythm,  and  a  native  ability  to 
think  another's  thoughts  and  interpret  them  in  one's  own 
tongue  without  losing  their  original  quality.  Translating  thus 
requires  a  keen,  open,  and  logical  mind  which  is  accurate 
without  being  literal,  discriminating  without  being  finical, 
and  which  preserves  "the  spirit  that  giveth  life.'* 

These  natural  traits  should  be  amplified  by  such  acquired 
qualifications  as  skill,  perfected  by  constant  practice;  per- 
severance to  keep  at  work  systematically;  beauty  of  form  and 
richness  of  diction  attained  through  diligent  reading  of  the 
best  literature  in  one's  native  and  the  chosen  language. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Translating  permits  liberty  of  movement  and  freedom  from 
the  usual  overhead  charges  of  other  occupations.  The  trans- 
lator takes  her  profession  with  her.  Public  libraries  furnish  a 
work  place  and  work  material.  The  translator  with  a  pro- 
fessional reputation  can  make  a  comfortable  living  as  a  free 
lance;  work  will  seek  her  out  and  she  may  command  her  own 
price.  The  salaried  translator  is  sure  of  steady  employment  so 
long  as  she  makes  good. 
These  advantages  are  somewhat  offset  by  certain  disad- 


THE  TRANSLATOR  333 

vantages,  of  which  loose  competition  is  perhaps  the  most  fre- 
quent. People  of  leisure,  having  a  fair  amount  of  conversa- 
tional or  linguistic  ability,  though  being  otherwise  unquali- 
fied, often  imagine  themselves  born  translators.  In  entering 
the  market  they  not  infrequently  depress  the  rates  and  bring 
discredit  upon  the  profession.  It  would  be  well  if  it  were  more 
generally  understood  how  many  worthless  literary  and  scien- 
tific translations  are  annually  issued,  and  if  both  pubhshers 
and  the  reading  public  could  be  educated  to  realize  that  trans- 
lating is  a  highly  specialized  vocation  which  can  be  success- 
fully undertaken  by  trained  professionals  only. 

Translating  is  like  all  creative,  intensive,  intellectual  work, 
a  mental  strain  and  a  nervous  drain.  It  is  confining  and 
tempts  to  overdoing,  because  the  work  flows  more  smoothly 
if  one  may  remain  at  it. 

Another  serious  disadvantage  is  the  reaction  from  politics 
and  industry  on  the  vocation  of  translating.  Political  and  in- 
dustrial crises  are  the  translator's  barometer.  At  the  present 
time  and  for  several  years  to  come  there  is,  and  will  be,  next 
to  no  demand  for  literary  and  scientific  translating  on  a  large 
scale,  since  little  intellectual  work  can  be  done  by  peoples  at 
war  or  suffering  from  its  aftermath. 

Commercial  translating,  on  the  other  hand,  is  called  for,  as 
yet,  only  in  certain  lines  of  industry  owing  to  the  disorganiza- 
tion of  the  world's  commerce. 

Suggested  reading 

The  following  titles  furnish  instructive  reading  to  the  pro- 
spective translator: 
"Sul*  arte  di  traduire  e  la  traduzioni  degli  antichi  considera- 

zioni  ..."  —  F.  Carrege.  Genoa,  1809. 
"Die  Kunst  des  Uebersetzens "  —  P.  Cauer.  BerHn,  1909. 
"La  maniere  de  bien  traduire  d*une  langue  en  autre"  — 

E.  Dolet.  Reprint,  Paris,  1830. 
"Translation  as  a  Fine  Art"  —  R.  Y.  Tyrell.  Dublin,  1887. 
"Beitrage  zur  Psychologie  des  Uebersetzens"  —  Wartensle- 


334  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN  . 

ben,  Gabriele,  Grafin  von.    (In  Abt.  I:  Zeitschrift  fur 

Psychologie;  Leipzig,  1910.) 
"The    High    Mystery    of    Translating" —  B.    Washburn. 

N.  Y.  Evening  Post  Book  Section,  July  20,  1918. 
"Essay  on  the  Principles  of  Translation"  —  Lord  Wood- 

houselee. 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK 
THE  MOTION-PICTURE  DIRECTOR 

IDA  MAY  PARK 

Motion-Picture  Director,  Willis  &  Inglis,  Los  Angeles,  California 

Description  of  occupation  and  qualifications  necessary 
The  vocation  of  the  motion-picture  director  is  one  that  com- 
mands so  comprehensive  a  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
economics  and  human  nature,  that  it  is  particularly  diflScult 
to  describe.  To  the  almost  unlimited  mental  demands  on  the 
director  is  added  the  necessity  of  an  invulnerable  physique. 
Perhaps  that  is  why  the  number  of  consistently  successful 
directors,  both  male  and  female,  is  relatively  so  small.  But 
having  these  things  there  is  no  one,  man  or  woman,  who  might 
not  take  up  the  profession  with  a  certain  degree  of  confidence 
in  his  or  her  ultimate  success. 

Because  it  is  so  obvious,  I  have  not  mentioned  the  necessity 
for  a  well-developed  dramatic  instinct.  Perhaps  more  than 
anything  else  that  instinct  is  the  deciding  factor  of  the  success 
or  the  failure  of  the  motion-picture  director.  Like  acting,  this 
ability  to  direct  is  an  inborn  talent,  but  it  can  be  cultivated  to 
a  certain  degree  through  the  mediums  of  training,  proper 
reading,  and  environment.  But  again,  as  it  is  with  acting,  the 
cultivated  art  can  never  equal  the  natural;  it  will  always  lack 
the  fire  of  genius.  From  the  beginning  of  the  production,  when 
the  story  is  being  moulded  to  scenario  requirements,  the 
director  is  the  supervisor,  the  dominant  note  of  the  produc- 
tion, and  (I  am  now  writing  to  women  alone)  it  is  her  sense  of 
dramatic  value  that  imparts  to,  or  withholds  from,  the  picture 
that  indefinable  something  which  can  raise  it  to  the  ultimate 
peak  of  picture  perfection  or  relegate  it  to  the  vast  scrap- 
heap  of  "rubber-stamp"  productions. 

Second  to  this  in  importance  is  the  artistic  eye,  for  at  all 


336  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

times  the  picture  must  be  perfect  in  its  angles,  composition, 
and  grouping.  Our  chief  aim  is  to  please,  first  and  foremost, 
through  the  vision. 

Preparation  necessary 

Preparation,  since  the  demands  on  knowledge  of  all  kinds  is 
boundless,  must  necessarily  be  very  general.  A  college  edu- 
cation is  a  great  help  if  it  has  not  been  concentrated  on  any 
particular  subject  to  the  detriment  of  others.  The  whole 
motion-picture  industry  is  so  young  and  the  recognition  of 
the  value  of  good  direction  so  recent  that,  so  far  as  I  know, 
there  is  yet  no  school  established  which  teaches  the  strictly 
technical  side.  Knowledge  of  camera  operation,  of  lighting 
effects,  and  of  all  the  hundred  and  one  less  important  mechan- 
ical details  must  be  gained  through  work  in  the  studio  itself. 
The  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  position  as  apprentice  or  assist- 
ant is  unfortunately  very  great. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Once  in  the  game  the  aspirant  to  a  directorship  will  find  the 
opportunities  limitless.  Such  a  statement  is  not  half  so  ex- 
treme as  it  sounds.  The  perfect  picture  is  still  a  thing  of 
dreams.  An  industry  can  develop  only  as  the  intelligence 
which  directs  it  develops.  The  interest  of  big  minds  is  a  thing 
that  until  recently  has  been  glaringly  absent  from  the  motion 
picture.  But  now  converts,  intelligent  converts,  are  flocking 
to  the  banner  and  results  are  boimd  to  come  in  the  form  of 
better  pictures. 

Financial  returns 

The  financial  return  is  likewise  unlimited.  A  thousand  dol- 
lars a  week  is  a  small  income  for  a  successful  director.  It 
might  well  be  called  a  minimum.  There  is  no  maximum. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

While  production  is  on  there  is  no  rest.  No  eight-hour  day  is 

known  to  the  director.  Often  work  extends  far  into  the  night. 


THE  TITLE  EDITOR  337 

many  times  through  it,  and  the  next  day  brings  no  respite. 
Given  a  certain  number  of  weeks,  a  certain  number  of  dol- 
lars, and  a  troupe  of  actors,  you  are  under  a  terrific  nervous 
and  physical  strain  that  does  not  let  up  until  you  have  com- 
pleted the  work.  The  obstacles  which  arise  are  frequently 
enough  to  try  the  greatest  patience.  The  director  must  never 
lose  her  poise,  must  never  betray  the  slightest  annoyance  un- 
less she  wishes  to  jeopardize  the  success  of  her  picture.  In  all 
the  world  there  is  no  more  difficult  lot  of  people  to  handle 
than  a  company  of  actors.  When  vacation  finally  does  come, 
it  is  never  more  than  two  or  three  days.  For  the  first  time  in 
six  years  I  am  taking  a  ten-day  vacation,  and  even  now  the 
tentacles  of  the  great  cinema  octopus  reach  out  at  intervals 
and  threaten  to  drag  me  back,  my  vacation  half  over,  into 
the  maelstrom  of  the  studio. 

As  for  the  natural  equipment  of  women  for  the  r61e  of 
director,  the  superiority  of  their  emotional  and  imaginative 
faculties  gives  them  a  great  advantage.  Then,  too,  the  fact 
that  there  are  only  two  women  directors  of  note  in  the  field 
to-day  leaves  an  absolutely  open  field.  But  unless  you  are 
hardy  and  determined,  the  director's  r61e  is  not  for  you.  Wait 
until  the  profession  has  emerged  from  its  embryonic  state  and 
a  system  has  been  evolved  by  which  the  terrific  weight  of 
responsibility  can  be  lifted  from  one  pair  of  shoulders.  When 
that  time  comes  I  believe  that  women  will  find  no  finer 
calling. 


THE  TITLE  EDITOR 
CLARA  DE  LISSA  BERG 

Description  of  occupation 

Some  picture-producing  companies  employ  men  and  women  in 
the  specific  office  of  "title  editor,"  whose  business  it  is,  after 
a  picture  has  been  made,  to  go  over  such  titles  as  have  been 
written  in  the  script,  and  adapt  them,  with  additional  titles. 


338  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

to  the  action  as  it  has  developed  in  making  the  picture.  Such 
positions  involve  a  practical  knowledge  of  film-cutting.  That 
is  to  say,  the  editor  must  actually  know  how  to  handle  and 
"read"  film,  and  learn  to  cut  and  arrange  such  parts  as  seem 
best  worth  preserving. 

In  the  best  companies,  however,  the  writing  of  titles  is  only 
a  part  of  the  general  editorial  work,  usually  performed  by  the 
staff  in  conference  during  and  after  the  making  of  the  pic- 
ture. These  companies  are  on  the  alert  for  young  writers  with 
story-telling  ability,  "picture  sense,"  and  original  ideas,  and 
are  willing  to  take  them  on  the  staff  and  enable  them  to  learn 
the  business  in  the  studio  itself.  Such  beginners  learn  to 
determine  whether  a  story  submitted  to  them  for  criticism 
has  picture  possibilities.  They  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
technical  difficulties  and  the  cost  involved  in  picturizing  a 
story.  They  are  given  novels  to  digest  with  a  view  to  pic- 
turization;  they  "sit  in"  on  conferences  regarding  the  cutting, 
editing,  and  titling  of  films.  If  they  have  original  ideas,  they 
are  given  an  opportunity  of  expressing  them. 

Training  and  qualifications  necessary 

The  main  qualification  for  such  work  is  the  story-telling 
sense,  coupled  with  an  appreciation  of  dramatic  situations. 
There  must  be  imagination  to  feel  behind  the  pictured  scene 
to  the  events  and  emotions  not  actually  portrayed,  but  bear- 
ing on  what  is  shown.  The  good  title  is  connotative;  it  builds 
out  the  picture  and  at  the  same  time  suggests  even  more  than 
it  tells.  There  should  be  an  appreciation  of  word  values  and 
the  ability  to  use  language  with  precision  and  power. 

There  must  be  democracy  of  feeling.  The  proportion  of 
highly  educated  people  who  attend  picture  houses  is  exceed- 
ingly small.  While  a  book  or  play  may  be  written  for  the  few, 
the  picture,  because  of  the  cost  of  its  production,  must  be 
produced  for  the  multitude.  If  it  is  beyond  their  compre- 
hension, or  alien  to  their  sympathies,  it  must,  in  box-office 
returns,  be  a  failure.  Its  emotional  appeal  must  be  universal; 


THE  TITLE  EDITOR  339 

its  situations  probable;  its  language  devoid  of  affectation 
The  young  writer  should  not  only  study  pictures,  but  audi- 
ences. 

Supply  and  demand 

Positions  open  to  young  graduates  offer  about  what  a 
secretarial  position  pays,  but  the  increase  is  rapid  if  the  writer 
shows  ability. 

AppHcants  should  apply  to  the  production  manager  or  the 
head  of  the  scenario  department,  and  should  have  some 
original  work,  stories  or  scripts,  to  submit. 

And  they  must  go  in  a  spirit  of  modesty  and  willingness  to 
learn.  They  are  entering  a  field  capable  of  as  yet  unrealized 
artistic  development,  but  one  in  which  technical  knowledge 
and  practical  experience  must  be  acquired  before  "reform" 
is  attempted. 


MUSEUM  WORK 

THE  MUSEUM  DIRECTOR 

NINA  STEVENS 
The  Toledo  Museum  of  AH,  Toledo,  Ohio 

Description  of  occupation 

The  importance  of  special  training  for  museum  workers  is 
growing  daily,  as  museums  of  art  are  springing  up  all  over  the 
country.  Women  have  proven  in  the  successful  administer- 
ing of  several  large  museums  that  museum  directing  is  a 
possible  position  for  women. 

The  directing  of  a  museum  demands  executive  ability,  a 
general  culture,  and  a  specific  knowledge  and  critical  appre- 
ciation of  art  as  well  as  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  technical 
side  of  art.  If  she  is  to  create  an  institution,  or  even  main- 
tain one  already  created,  she  must  understand  the  usual 
routine  of  business.  If  she  assumes  the  direction  of  a  new 
enterprise,  or  a  small  institution  with  a  view  of  developing 
it,  she  must  have  such  executive  ability  as  will  enable  her  to 
organize  and  conduct  campaigns  for  the  raising  of  funds  and 
the  securing  of  memberships.  There  are  two  kinds  of  museum 
directors,  the  one  who  creates  a  new  institution  and  the  one 
who  administers  the  affairs  of  one  already  established;  both 
are  important  and  necessary,  but  the  former  will  prove  the 
more  valuable  in  the  art  development  of  the  country. 

Financial  return 

A  FEW  women  acting  as  museum  directors  and  many  other 
women  holding  museum  positions  are  paid  from  $2000  to 
$6000  a  year. 

Other  openings  in  musuem  work 

Now  that  museums  of  art  have  become  important  educa- 
tional institutions  many  more  museum  positions  are  open  to 


THE  MUSEUM  DIRECTOR  341 

women.  The  docent  work  is  especially  interesting,  as  the 
docent  comes  in  direct  contact  with  the  children  and  adults 
of  a  community.  It  is  her  province  to  educate  and  enlighten 
the  public  as  to  the  contents  of  the  museum,  devising  ways 
of  entertaining,  instructing,  and  creating  audiences.  A  col- 
lege education  with  a  post-graduate  course,  including  child 
psychology  and  a  course  in  public  speaking,  is  practically 
necessary  in  this  work. 

There  are  positions  open  to  the  college  graduate  in  all 
departments  of  museum  work,  including  the  installation 
and  care  of  collections,  the  teaching  of  the  history,  apprecia- 
tion, theory,  and  practice  of  art,  the  appreciation  of  music, 
story-telling,  publicity,  and  library  work. 

The  work  of  bringing  the  museum  to  the  people  and  pop- 
ularizing it  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  opportunities  are  limit- 
less for  young  women  with  training  and  imagination  to 
create  their  own  positions. 


MUSIC 

THE  COMPOSER 

MABEL  W.  DANIELS 

Description  of  occupation  —  Preparation 
Before  the  ambitious  student  sets  to  work  to  cover  staff 
after  staff  with  neat  black  notes,  however  fascinating  this 
occupation  may  be,  she  must  be  very  sure  that  the  vocation 
of  musical  composition  is  that  which  offers  her  the  best 
opportunity  for  the  finest  expression  of  self.  To  have  com- 
posed a  tuneful  lullaby,  flatteringly  hummed  by  friends,  is 
hardly  enough  to  warrant  the  forsaking  of  all  other  gods  and 
entering  on  the  career  of  composer,  nor  is  the  fact  that  melo- 
dies drift  through  the  brain  an  augury  of  future  greatness. 
At  the  outset  she  must  realize  that  to  become  a  musical  com- 
poser requires  as  much  preparatory  study  as  that  demanded 
by  any  other  professional  career,  and  that  success  entails 
self-sacrifice,  many  tedious  hours  of  study,  and  in  fact  actual 
drudgery.  Once  having  definitely  made  up  her  mind  that 
this  is  her  chosen  work,  she  should  begin  by  sketching  out  a 
concise  plan  of  study. 

Fortunate,  indeed,  is  the  student  who  at  the  early  stage  of 
a  preparatory  school  recognizes  the  first  stirrings  of  her 
dream  and  elects  harmony  as  one  of  her  courses  which  she 
can  present  at  her  college  entrance  examinations.  Most 
students,  however,  begin  by  taking  the  harmony  course 
offered  at  college  and  follow  it  in  logical  succession  by  counter- 
point, canon  and  fugue,  and  orchestration.  Along  with  this 
go  courses  in  musical  form  and  the  analysis  of  the  principal 
standard  classical  works,  in  small  and  large  forms.  However 
much  the  devotees  of  the  ultra-modern  school  may  sneer  at 
these,  to  them,  old-fashioned  methods,  I  have  never  yet 


THE  COMPOSER  343 

known  of  a  composer  whose  inspiration  was  really  impaired 
by  technical  knowledge.  If  the  inspiration  is  not  big  enough 
to  survive  the  necessary  technical  training,  it  is  well  lost. 
Alas  for  the  great  multitude  who  have  disappeared  from 
sight  by  not  realizing  that  they  must  have  a  firm  foundation 
on  which  to  build ! 

The  argument  is  often  put  forth  that  so  far  as  the  musician 
is  concerned  the  general  education  of  these  four  years  is  for 
the  most  part  wasted.  To  this  idea  I  am  strenuously  opposed. 
Granted  that  she  may  arrive  somewhat  later  than  her  fellow 
sister  who  has  been  concentrating  on  one  subject  since  her 
early  years,  she  will  ultimately  be  a  bigger  person  in  her 
chosen  field  for  the  very  breadth  of  vision,  habits  of  study, 
and  broad  way  of  looking  at  life  which  her  college  course  has 
given  her.  For  in  no  other  field  is  a  sense  of  proportion  and 
sound  judgment  more  necessary  than  in  the  field  of  serious 
musical  composition. 

General  suggestions 

If  the  student  can  play  any  instrument  she  should  by  all 
means  join  the  college  orchestra  or  some  ensemhUy  as  such 
training  is  invaluable.  If  she  sings  she  should  most  assuredly 
ally  herseK  with  the  choir,  choral  society,  or  glee  club.  In 
these  ways  she  unconsciously  acquires  knowledge  invaluable 
to  her  later  work.  In  any  event,  let  her  hear  as  much  good 
music  as  possible  in  order  to  keep  her  mind  en  rapport  with 
the  best  musical  thought  of  the  day. 

Financial  returns 

We  assume  that  we  are  not  dealing  with  the  mere  music- 
maker,  but  with  one  who  early  hitches  her  chariot  to  a  star. 
One  must  be  content  with  comparatively  small  financial 
return.  Her  reward  must  come  from  the  happiness  of  en- 
deavoring to  express  herself  in  the  highest  and  best  form  she 
knows.  Occasionally,  a  finely  made  song  does  gain  the  pop- 
ular approval  and  the  royalties  accruing  net  a  tidy  sum  for 


S44  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  maker,  but  unfortunately  this  is  the  exception  rather 
than  the  rule. 

THE  MUSICAL  MANAGER 

ANITA  DAVIS-CHASE 

Description  of  occupation 

Like  many  other  vocations  this  is  one  which  has  no  definable 
laws  or  rules  to  govern  its  success,  neither  has  it  any  secrets. 
This  country  is  full  of  so-called  musical  managers,  many  of 
them  musical,  but  few  of  them  really  business  managers. 
It  is  a  matter  of  an  amount  of  executive  ability  combined 
with  a  good  musical  education  plus  much  hard  work  which 
makes  for  the  success  of  the  musical  manager. 

It  means  a  regular  business  method,  into  the  office  early, 
out  of  It  very  late,  and  never  any  thought  of  "overtime." 
This  country  has  a  great  many  bureaus  or  agents,  or  what- 
ever one  pleases  to  call  them,  but  when  they  are  all  sifted 
down  there  are  very  few  of  these  people  who  have  had  the 
musical  education  that  enables  them  to  "pick  a  winner"  — 
a  successful  artist.  If  a  manager  can  do  that,  then  they  can 
intelligently  sell  that  artist,  and  if  the  artist  makes  good,  as 
of  course  she  will  under  these  circumstances,  people  will  have 
faith  in  the  manager.  Many  managers  are  tempted  to  handle 
more  artists  than  they  can  faithfully  work  for,  with  the  result 
that  some  one's  work  is  sometimes  imintentionally  slighted. 
This  causes  ill-feeling,  and  the  manager  gets  the  blame. 

A  few  artists  well  chosen  by  a  manager  who  is  conscientious 
from  the  business  side,  means  success.  Artists  are  worth  what 
they  will  draw  in  a  box  office,  and  if  they  will  draw  several 
hundred  dollars  they  certainly  are  worth  that  amount  to  the 
person  who  buys  them  for  an  engagement. 

Preparation  necessary 

There  is  no  training  which  can  be  as  valuable  as  the  training 

of  experience  in  this  branch  of  the  work.  The  biggest  part  of 


THE  OPERA  SINGER  345 

it  is  the  detail.  One  must  have  a  valuable  mailing  list  of 
thousands  of  names;  he  must  learn  the  advertising  value  of 
the  various  newspapers,  and  how  to  arrange  his  advertising. 
He  must  not  be  a  proof-room  eluder,  as  there  are  thousands 
of  advance  programmes  to  go  out,  and  there  are  the  house 
programmes  to  be  printed.  There  are  a  hundred  and  one 
little  details  which  would  take  too  long  to  enumerate,  and, 
as  I  say,  one  learns  by  experience  more  than  by  any  other 
way. 

Financial  return 

If  one  enters  this  field  of  work  with  only  the  monetary  end 
in  view  he  will  never  become  successful.  One  will  be  tempted 
by  fine  offers  to  accept  bad  musicians,  a  young  singer  or 
musician,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  advertise  them  with  an 
abundance  of  photographs  and  adjectives.  The  artist  does 
not  make  good  and  it  costs  the  manager  actually  a  great  loss 
for  the  future,  because  people  lose  confidence  in  him  and  in 
his  judgment.  Really  good  artists  will  cut  a  large  circle 
around  his  office  door  and  committees  shun  his  advice  and 
suggestions. 


THE  OPERA  SINGER 

GEIIALDINE  FARRAR 

Metropolitan  Opera  Company 

Description  of  occupation 

Occupation  as  an  opera  singer  in  the  United  States  must 
necessarily  be  restricted  to  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House, 
the  Chicago  Opera  Company,  and  a  few  organizations  more 
or  less  under  the  designation  of  road  concerns,  unlike  Europe, 
whose  subsidized  lyric  theaters  offer  experience  from  early 
training  in  small  parts  to  a  position  of  prominence.  Church 
and  concert  singing  being  a  different  matter,  I  do  not  in- 
clude these  activities  under  this  heading. 


346  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Training  necessary 

Eably  training,  as  far  as  vocal  production  is  concerned,  can 
be  attained  as  well  under  the  guidance  of  experts  here  as 
abroad.  The  later  desirable  advantages,  acting  and  educa- 
tion broadened  by  travel  and  observation,  are  a  desirable 
feature  for  the  student  in  Europe.  The  length  of  training 
must  vary  in  individual  cases.  Some  female  voices  are  mature 
at  eighteen,  others  after  twenty.  We  might  possibly  general- 
ize from  twenty  to  thirty  as  the  most  sensitive  years  whereby 
the  voice  must  be  prudently  employed  in  suitable  roles  to 
guard  against  faults  too  often  ineradicable  in  later  years. 
The  receptiveness  of  the  vocal  organ  at  this  period  makes 
those  ten  years  of  necessity  the  foundation  upon  which  the 
future  edifice  must  stand. 

Advancement 

Progress  and  advancement  in  this  chosen  profession  depends, 
after  the  consideration  of  natural  vocal  gifts,  upon  talent  for 
acting,  musical  taste,  graceful  deportment,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  pulchritude  supplemented  by  vigorous  health  and 
unlimited  capacity  for  work. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

To  my  way  of  thinking  the  disadvantages  of  a  small  operatic 
career  are  very  great.  The  incessant  grind,  the  discontent 
with  inferior  conditions  that  promise  no  improvement,  to- 
gether with  the  monetary  pittance  as  a  recompense  can  hardly 
warrant  the  tremendous  sacrifices  that  are  demanded  and 
made  by  the  individual.  Many  admirable  voices  are  led 
astray  —  opera- wise  —  when  their  true  vocation  should  be 
the  concert  and  oratorio  platform.  The  opera  demands  other 
gifts,  and  the  voice  is  but  one  essential  in  its  expression. 
Singers  educated  along  the  lines  of  the  lyric  drama  should 
include  the  Italian,  French,  German,  and  Russian  languages-. 
the  latter  is  recommended  as  a  true  medium  to  introduce  the 
glorious  musical  literature  of  a  country  to  whose  works  we 


THE  OPERA  SINGER  347 

have  been  lately  introduced  by  reason  of  the  latter-day  sup- 
pression of  the  classic  German  Lieder. 

If  paired  to  another  gift  for  an  instrument,  such  as  piano 
or  violin,  the  advantages  of  a  larger  musical  education  are 
very  apparent.  Meanwhile  all  the  literature  and  the  reading 
of  classics  in  the  above-mentioned  languages  should  be  in- 
cluded as  an  adjunct  to  one's  equipment.  The  intelligent 
observation  and  love  of  great  works  of  art,  such  as  paintings, 
sculptures,  the  study  of  pantomime,  the  dance,  declamation, 
and  charm  of  the  various  epochs  in  the  world  of  manners, 
customs,  and  arts,  cannot  be  indifferently  approached  save 
by  the  mentally  unalert. 

I  would  suggest  that  often-discussed  question,  that  when 
the  arts,  and  particularly  music,  will  receive  an  impetus  from 
the  Government  or  municipal  interests  such  as  are  now 
furthered  by  private  enterprises,  we  should  have  many  of  the 
desirable  features  at  present  exemplified  in  European  smaller 
theaters  whereby  the  early  talent  can  be  fostered  in  actual 
activity  and  not,  as  it  is  at  present,  be  forced  to  seek  a  position 
beyond  the  waters  or  be  one  of  many  to  hope  for  achievement 
under  conditions  as  above  mentioned. 


NEWSPAPER  WORK 
THE  DRAMATIC  CRITIC 

KATHARINE  LYONS 

Dramatic  Critic^  Boston  Traveler^  Boston,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  dramatic  critic  on  a  Boston  newspaper  involves 
much  lighter  work  than  similar  duties  in  New  York.  In 
Boston  we  average  two  new  plays  a  week,  whereas  in  New 
York,  openings  are  every  night  affairs.  Writing  for  a  daily 
newspaper  necessitates  writing  the  comments  on  the  night 
of  the  first  performance.  Every  Boston  critic  returns  to  his 
office  to  write  his  review  immediately  after  the  opening  per- 
formance. Those  who  write  for  morning  dailies  invariably 
work  imder  pressure  of  time  to  catch  the  edition  which  is  being 
sold  on  the  street  by  the  time  the  commuting  playgoer  is 
getting  into  bed.  If  the  final  curtain  falls  a  little  later  than 
the  usual  hour,  which  is  often  the  case  on  opening  nights  when 
curtain  speeches  and  new  scenery  often  delay  the  perform- 
ance, the  morning  edition  critics  are  forced  to  work  at  high 
speed  to  catch  the  press.  Working  on  an  evening  paper 
allows  the  privilege  of  waiting  until  the  final  curtain. 

Every  critic  has  his  or  her  own  style  of  reviewing  a  produc- 
tion just  as  every  theater-goer  has  a  favorite  critic.  It  has 
been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again  that  it  is  not  what  the 
critics  say  that  is  the  decisive  factor  whether  the  theater-goer 
will  "take  in"  a  certain  play  or  not,  yet  he  likes  to  know 
something  about  it  before  he  buys  his  tickets,  particularly 
nowadays  when  the  price  of  seats  is  really  worthy  considera- 
tion. For  this  reason  I  always  give  a  brief  outline  of  what  the 
play  is  about,  some  hint  of  the  plot,  or  the  comedy  or  tragedy, 


THE  DRAMATIC  CRITIC  349 

so  that  one  might  get  some  idea  what  it  is  about.  Criticism, 
however,  does  not  consist  in  revealing  the  plot.  Any  one 
can  tell  the  story  of  a  play.  Following  the  construction  of  the 
play,  closely  observing  the  dialogue,  and  judging  the  fitness 
of  the  cast  into  the  characters  are  important  features  to 
be  considered.  The  plot  of  a  mystery  play  should  not  be 
divulged.  Unless  you  are  a  dramatic  critic,  you  go  to  the 
theater  for  the  pleasure  you  get  out  of  it,  and  at  least  half 
the  pleasure  you  derive  from  a  mystery  play  is  solving  the 
mystery.  The  show  manager  will  sometimes  make  a  polite 
request  to  withhold  the  mystery,  but  as  a  rule  the  critic  knows 
enough  to  do  so. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Newspaper  work  generally  seems  to  be  a  magnet  for  college 

women,  although  there  are  many  who  have  proved  that  a 

college  education  is  not  essential  to  the  work.   Some  of  our 

most  successful  reporters  finished  their  education  in  high 

school. 

The  college  girl  who  has  made  a  study  of  drama  and  play- 
writing  will  find  her  knowledge  a  source  of  ready  information 
in  this  line  of  work,  although  I  dare  say  three  quarters  of  the 
dramatic  scribes  throughout  the  country  have  gained  their 
knowledge  through  practical  experience  and  private  reading. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

If  a  dramatic  critic  is  gifted  with  imagination  he  very  often 
turns  to  playwriting,  which  seems  to  be  the  natural  line  of 
advancement.  Recalling  the  words  of  August  Thomas  — 
"we  not  only  get  our  plays  but  our  playwrights  from  the 
newspapers"  —  following  up  his  assertion,  we  might  mention 
a  few  cases  where  his  words  ring  true:  M.  Jules  Lemattre, 
France's  great  impressionistic  critic,  finally  turned  playivright 
and  gave  several  masterpieces  to  the  stage  of  his  country; 
in  England,  Clement  Scott  combined  the  vocations  of  re- 
viewer and  dramatist;  and  did  not  the  gifted,  erratic  George 


850  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Bernard  Shaw  leave  his  desk  on  the  "Saturday  Evening 
Review"  to  evolve  that  brilliant  series  of  satirical  comedies 
that  began  with  "Arms  and  the  Man"? 

Financial  return 

The  financial  remuneration  is  in  keeping  with  the  generosity 
of  the  newspaper  unless  one  belongs  to  the  Writers'  Union 
which  has  established  a  minimum  of  $38  a  week. 


Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  foundation  of  success  is  the  natural  gift  to  write.  One  of 
the  biggest  difficulties  to  overcome  is  the  inability  to  express 
one's  thoughts  on  paper.  For  instance,  I  recall  some  firm 
opinions  of  my  own  when  I  first  began  writing  reviews  which 
I  withheld  simply  because  I  could  n't  express  them  satisfac- 
torily on  paper.  Often  I  lacked  the  confidence  to  express  my 
opinions,  fearful  that  they  might  be  too  daring,  but  later 
abiding  by  the  advice  of  an  older,  experienced,  and  distin- 
guished critic,  I  soon  learned  that  I  would  never  fill  the  duties 
of  a  critic  if  I  lacked  the  courage  of  my  own  convictions. 

An  enlarged  vocabulary  is  essential.  Writing  seems  to  in- 
crease this  as  much  as  reading.  The  simplest  words  are  just 
as  effective  as  the  more  uncommon  ones,  but  a  command  of 
synonyms  solves  the  problem  of  repetition.  , 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Meeting  the  "stars"  is  fascinating,  for  every  one  enjoys 
the  privilege  of  walking  behind  the  scenes  to  visit  a  cast. 
Whether  it  be  the  star  or  not,  this  task  is  usually  a  pleasant 
one.  I  maintain  no  fixed  rules  for  interviewing;  chatty  con- 
versations usually  prove  fruitful  when  it  comes  time  to  tran- 
scribe them.  With  some  professionals,  however,  some  par- 
ticular subject  often  helps  the  interview  along,  providing  it 
will  be  one  of  interest  to  the  reading  public.  Strangely 
enough,  the  very  things  the  public  is  most  interested  in  are 
usually  the  ones  the  professional  likes  to  withhold.  The  pub* 


THE  FEATURE  EDITOR  351 

lie  has  a  penchant  for  the  domestic  side  of  celebrities  and  few 
of  them  discuss  it. 

Truly,  the  vocation  is  not  altogether  enviable.  To  many  in 
other  branches  of  journalism  the  dramatic  scribe  is  a  pariah. 
To  many  theatrical  managers  he  is  the  box-office's  worst 
enemy.  To  many  actors  he  is  persona  non  grata,  the  deadly 
foe  of  the  profession,  and  to  laymen  he  is  merely  a  "good 
fellow"  plentifully  supplied  with  complimentary  passes. 

George  Ade  began  work  as  a  dramatic  critic,  but  from  nat- 
ural "delicacy  or  an  abhorrence  for  wounding  the  sensibilities 
of  the  worthy  souls  behind  the  footlights,"  refrained  from 
saying  anything  but  pleasant  things  about  their  performances 
until,  he  admits,  nobody  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  what 
he  wrote.  Comphments  are  not  criticism,  although  they  are 
just  as  essential  as  adverse  comment. 

Demand  and  supply 

Looking  over  the  list  of  dramatic  critics  in  New  York  and 
Boston  we  find  the  women  very  much  in  the  minority,  but  in 
the  Middle  West  there  are  several  employed  in  that  capacity. 

THE  FEATURE  EDITOR 

MARGARET  S.  GRAY  '  / 

Philadelphia  North  American  \ 

Description  of  occupation 

You  pick  up  a  feature  section  of  a  Sunday  newspaper.  Per- 
haps it  is  a  magazine  section,  perhaps  it  is  a  children's  section, 
or  perhaps  it  is  a  woman's  section.  It  may  be  that  in  reading 
to-day's  paper  you  glanced  over  a  woman's  page  or  you  read  a 
semi-news  and  editorial  page  upon  which  were  fiction,  shorr' 
editorials  of  general  interest,  and  questions  and  answers. 

In  most  metropolitan  papers  each  of  the  above-named 
sections  or  pages  has  an  editor  of  its  own,  unless,  of  course,  the 
material  for  these  feature  pages  is  bought  from  a  syndicate. 


85«  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

This  editor  might  be  called  a  special-page  editor,  or,  more 
specifically,  a  feature  editor. 

The  feature  editor  plans,  assembles,  edits,  and  frequently 
writes  a  portion,  if  not  all,  of  the  material  for  her  page  or 
section. 

Preparation 

Though  many  persons  at  present  engaged  in  this  kind  of 
newspaper  work  are  not  college  trained,  they  have  some- 
how acquired  a  broad  fund  of  information  as  well  as  prac- 
tical newspaper  experience.  There  are,  however,  a  large 
number  of  college  women  in  this  field,  and  in  many  cases 
they  have  the  advantages  of  greater  knowledge,  resourceful- 
ness, and  ease  in  writing. 

Should  an  undergraduate  have  decided  to  become  a  writer, 
and  to  break  into  writing  through  newspaper  work,  she 
would  choose  English,  psychology,  economics,  sociology, 
and  the  histories,  including  not  only  ancient,  mediaeval,  and 
modern,  but  also  embracing  rather  liberally  history  of  art  and 
American  history,  special  emphasis  being  placed  upon  civil 
government.  Household  economics  and  manual  training  are 
desirable,  depending  upon  what  feature  page  or  section  is 
chosen. 

One  must  be  able  also  to  use  a  typewriter.  In  newspaper 
circles  the  "hunt"  system  seems  to  be  most  generally  used, 
pointing  to  the  conclusion  that  typing  was  not  scientifically 
learned,  but  was,  on  the  contrary,  picked  up  at  random. 

Having  acquired  general  knowledge,  the  next  step  is  to 
acquire  practical  newspaper  experience  which  is  done  simply 
by  going  to  a  newspaper  oflfice,  asking  for  a  position,  accepting 
the  same,  working  hard,  and  receiving  little  compensation. 
In  the  meanwhile  the  paper  is  giving  you,  in  return  for  your 
apprenticeship,  a  "news  sense"  and  an  acquaintance  with  its 
clientele,  or,  more  broadly  speaking,  it  is  teaching  you  "dis- 
play." 

By  "display"  is  meant  the  selection  of  your  material,  the 


THE  FEATURE  EDITOR  353 

construction  thereof,  and  the  captioning  or  titling  of  the 
article.  In  other  words,  you  must  learn  during  your  appren- 
ticeship what  sort  of  material  your  readers  want  to  read,  in 
what  form  they  wish  to  read  it,  and  just  what  title  will  adver- 
tise the  article,  or  make  them  inclined  to  read  it.  After  a 
while,  also,  you  discover  what  illustrations  are  best  and  what 
arrangement  or  lay-out  is  most  effective. 

Incidentally  this  training  teaches  you  to  analyze  a  story 
or  article,  thus  to  be  able  at  once  to  place  your  finger  upon 
the  important  point.  This  analysis  and  elimination  will  prove 
indispensable  in  further  writing. 

As  for  the  natural  qualifications  necessary,  intuitive 
knowledge  of  people,  aptitude  for  writing,  and  good  judgment 
are  essential.  The  more  general  factors  desirable  for  success 
in  other  lines  apply  here  also,  namely,  perseverance,  ambition, 
and  health. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Women  in  newspaper  work,  though  the  field  is  comparatively 
new  to  them,  have  in  some  cases  advanced  to  high  positions 
in  newspaper  organization.  For  example,  the  Sunday  editor 
of  the  "Chicago  Tribune"  is  a  woman. 

The  majority,  however,  use  newspaper  work  as  a  stepping- 
stone  either  to  lucrative  advertising  positions  or  to  free- 
lancing. The  latter,  of  course,  means  simply  the  producing  of 
articles  and  the  selling  of  them  in  magazine  markets.  What 
time  remains  may  be  spent  upon  a  more  pretentious  work,  if 
so  desired. 

Financial  return 

If  one  is  dependent  upon  what  one  earns,  strong  courage  and 
devotion  to  one's  ambition  are  necessary  to  get  into  news- 
paper work,  for  the  salaries  are  usually  low  at  the  start.  One 
really  goes  to  school  the  first  few  months  and  is  paid  a  small 
salary.  In  other  words,  the  first  few  months  constitute  a 
period  of  apprenticeship. 


854  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

The  minimum  salary  is  probably  $50  or  $60  per  month. 
The  salaries  of  the  highest  paid  newspaper  women  reach  $5000 
a  year  and  over. 

Of  course,  during  the  first  hard  months  one  sometimes  has 
the  good  luck  to  sell  a  magazine  article  on  the  side  which 
helps  considerably. 

Advantages 

The  advantages  consist  in  contact  with  a  great  variety  of 
people  and  subjects,  in  the  acquiring  of  a  knowledge  of  maga- 
zine markets,  in  greater  ease  in  writing,  and  in  the  develop- 
ment of  one's  power  to  think  quickly,  and  to  analyze  and 
eliminate  accurately  and  skillfully. 

Disadvantages 

The  disadvantages  consist  in  the  low  salaries  and  in  the  hours 
which,  unless  one  does  acquire  ease  and  speed  in  thinking  and 
writing,  are  apt  to  be  long. 

Demand  and  supply 

The  demand  for  trained  newspaper  women  is  greater  than  the 
supply.  A  large  number  holding  newspaper  positions  to-day 
have  not  been  properly  trained  and  are,  therefore,  only 
mediocre  newspaper  women. 

The  opportunities  average  the  same  in  all  localities. 

Suggested  reading 

A  READING  list  which  would  supplement  the  training  of  the 
feature  editor  would  be  extremely  comprehensive.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  any  classic  read  for  the  purpose  of  noting  the 
style  of  writing,  means  of  characterization,  and  human  inter- 
est, any  book  or  article  read  purely  for  general  information, 
or  any  book  on  journalism  read  conservatively  and  thought- 
fully, will  be  of  high  value. 


THE  REPORTER  355 

THE  REPORTER  ^v 

KATHARINE  BARTLETT 

Description  of  occupation 

If  you  are  lucky  enough  to  know  some  experienced  newspaper 
man  or  woman  you  will  probably  be  told  that  the  only  way  to 
learn  to  report  is  to  report.  In  other  words,  become  a  reporter 
first  and  learn  to  gather  and  write  news  as  you  go  along.  This 
is  the  opinion  of  most  of  the  older  reporters  and  editors. 

Most  newswriters  are  not  fond  of  the  word  "journalist" 
and  what  it  has  come  to  imply.  There  has  been  in  the  past 
and  there  still  is  in  many  cities  a  strong  prejudice  against 
graduates  of  schools  of  journalism,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
some  excellent  reporters  attended  them.  In  New  York,  how- 
ever, there  seems  to  be  an  increasing  tendency  to  take  gradu- 
ates of  a  few  of  the  best  of  these  schools. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  every  new  method  of 
training  apprentices  in  every  trade  and  profession  has  been 
opposed  by  those  trained  in  the  older  school.  The  training 
schools  for  mechanical  trades,  for  example,  were  ridiculed  at 
first.  The  writer,  who  was  trained  in  the  old  way,  admits  a 
very  lively  prejudice  against  the  schools  of  journalism  and 
much  enthusiasm  for  the  "learning  by  experience  method.** 
It  may  be  that  twenty  years  from  now  this  prejudice  will  be 
forgotten. 

The  best  school  for  reporters  is  the  small  city  paper, 
weekly  or  daily.  Most  would-be  newswriters  try  for  a  job  on  a 
large  city  paper  before  they  know  the  difference  between  a 
"stick"  and  a  "lead.**  Even  if  the  large  paper  is  willing  to 
take  an  inexperienced  reporter  it  is  likely  to  be  a  bad  thing 
for  the  beginner.  This  is  especially  true  of  a  woman  for  a 
reason  which  will  be  explained  later.  Beginning  without 
training  she  is  apt  to  be  kept  on  small,  uninteresting  assign- 
ments until  all  enthusiasm  is  lost.  And  enthusiasm  is  one  of 
the  prime  requirements  for  newspaper  work. 


356  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

A  beginner  on  a  small  paper  will  be  given  all  sorts  of  work 
and  will  frequently  be  assigned  to  "cover"  really  important 
"stories"  —  any  article  in  a  newspaper  is  a  "story"  for  the 
simple  reason  that  such  papers  are  always  understaffed  and 
must  send  any  reporter  available.  The  reporter  will  learn  in 
one  year  what  it  would  take  three  to  learn  on  a  large  paper. 
She  can  make  mistakes  and  learn  by  them,  which  is  after  all 
about  the  only  way  any  one  learns  anything.  Mistakes  are 
not  tolerated  on  big  dailies. 

Another  advantage  is  that  reporters  on  small  papers  learn 
all  sides  of  the  game.  On  some  papers  they  not  only  write 
news,  but  read  copy,  correct  proof,  help  with  "making-up" 
the  paper,  and  even  get  advertising.  This  general  knowledge 
helps  in  many  ways  on  large  papers  even  although  it  is  not 
put  in  actual  practice. 

There  is  a  practical  financial  advantage  in  the  small  paper 
as  a  training  school.  Instead  of  paying  $200  or  so  a  year  tui- 
tion you  receive  anywhere  from  $500  up  as  a  small-paper  re- 
porter. In  other  words,  you  are  paid  for  attending  school. 
But  you  earn  it,  for  there  is  no  work  harder  than  that  of  a 
small  paper. 

The  best  way  to  get  a  job  on  a  small  paper  is  to  write  an 
article  about  something  in  the  city,  any  local  organization, 
landmark,  business  interest,  etc.,  which  you  think  is  not  too 
well  known.  Write  it  as  nearly  as  you  can  in  the  style  of  the 
feature  articles  in  the  large  papers.  If  you  can  "  dig  up  "  a 
piece  of  news,  write  that.  Then  take  it  to  the  editor  of  the 
best  local  paper.  Probably  he  will  refuse  it.  Take  it  to  the 
other  papers  and  eventually  you  may  find  one  which  will 
print  it. 

If  you  can't  get  it  accepted,  try  again.  In  the  meantime 
impress  it  on  every  editor  that  you  want  to  do  newspaper 
work  and  that  you  are  willing  to  take  any  job  he  has  so  long 
as  it  means  an  opening  in  the  office.  If  you  have  any  of  the 
qualifications  of  a  reporter  you  will  almost  certainly  be  given 
a  chance,  although  it  may  not  come  for  months.  If  your  home 


THE  REPORTER  357 

city  fails,  try  another  but  not  too  large  a  one.  If  you  happen 
to  live  in  a  big  city,  try  for  a  place  on  the  suburban  papers. 

To  define  the  field  of  newspaper  work  is  difficult  and  would 
take  too  much  space.  Pick  up  any  newspaper  and  look  at  the 
stories  in  it.  If  you  become  a  reporter  you  may  be  called  on 
to  write  any  one  of  them. 

There  are  certain  fields  of  newspaper  work,  social  reporting, 
writing  for  the  woman's  page,  and  reporting  the  activities 
of  women's  clubs  and  organizations  which  are  now  almost 
exclusively  given  over  to  women.  The  reporters  who  do  that 
kind  of  work  generally  specialize  in  it.  Many  of  them  even- 
tually leave  reporting  to  become  editors  of  the  society  or 
woman's  pages. 

General  reporting  —  that  is,  the  writing  of  news  of  any  sort 
from  an  accident  in  the  subway  to  an  interview  with  the  Pres- 
ident —  is  for  most  people  the  most  interesting  field  in  news- 
paper work.  There  is  still  a  certain  prejudice  against  em- 
ploying women  for  this  work.  That  is  why  it  is  advisable  for 
a  woman  to  attempt  work  on  a  large  paper  only  after  she  has 
had  such  experience  on  small  papers  that  she  can  truthfully 
say  she  has  reported  all  sorts  of  stories. 

This  prejudice  extends  only  to  the  actual  securing  of  a  job 
and  finding  the  first  opportunity.  Editors  to-day  are  generally 
willing  to  allow  a  woman  to  report  the  stories  formerly  given 
only  to  men,  if  she  gives  evidence  of  ability. 

Feature  writing  is  considered  by  most  outsiders  and  some 
in  the  business  to  be  the  goal  of  the  reporter.  If  it  can  be 
combined  with  general  reporting  it  is  a  most  interesting  line 
of  work,  but  to  abandon  reporting  for  feature  writing  is  to 
lose  the  most  interesting  side  of  newspaper  life.  In  any  case 
it  is  best  to  learn  reporting  before  attempting  feature  writing. 

Financial  return 

It  is  a  tradition  of  the  newspaper  business  that  reporters  are 
badly  paid.  This  is  generally  true  of  the  men.  Women,  how- 
ever, in  so  far  as  they  are  paid  on  the  same  scale  as  the  men, 


358  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

and  they  usually  are  in  general  reporting,  probably  receive 
as  much  as  they  would  in  most  other  lines.  It  is  difficult  to 
speak  dejBnitely  because  as  a  rule  the  reporter's  salary  is 
known  only  to  himself  and  the  city  editor. 

Qualifications  necessary 

Qualifications  for  newspaper  work  vary  on  almost  every 
newspaper  so  far  as  the  writing  end  and  the  outlook  on  news 
are  concerned.  Ability  to  say  what  you  mean  in  plain  English 
is,  of  course,  essential,  but  you  must  also  be  able  to  fit  your 
style  into  that  of  the  paper  which  employs  you. 

The  most  important  qualifications  for  the  beginner  to  con- 
sider are  the  physical  and  temperamental.  These  also  vary, 
but  there  are  nine  which  are  generally  considered  essential. 
They  are :  the  very  best  of  health,  sound  nerves,  good  memory, 
initiative,  alertness,  accuracy,  ability  to  make  people  tell  you 
what  you  want  to  know,  abiHty  to  work  under  pressure  and 
willingness  to  work  hard. 

Preparation  necessary 

As  to  preliminary  training  a  college  course  is  desirable  in  the 
sense  that  it  is  desirable  in  any  business.  The  subjects  which 
will  be  of  most  practical  use  are  history,  especially  American 
history,  economics,  government,  and  English  literature.  Mod- 
ern languages  may  be  useful  and  a  course  in  typewriting  is 
desirable,  but  stenography  is  more  likely  to  handicap  than  to 
help. 

As  to  textbooks  the  best  book  on  newspaper  work  is  a 
newspaper.  Read  all  the  first-class  papers  you  can  and  study 
the  way  the  articles  are  written,  what  features  are  placed  in 
the  "lead"  —  that  is,  the  first  and  most  important  paragraph 
—  and  as  far  as  you  can  acquire  a  feeling  for  "news." 

Disadvantages 

It  would  hardly  be  fair  to  write  about  newspaper  work  with- 
out speaking  of  the  disadvantages.   There  are  plenty.   The 


THE  SPECIAL-ARTICLE  WRITER  859 

work  is  hard,  physically  and  mentally.  It  is  done  in  all  sorts 
of  weather  and  under  all  sorts  of  conditions.  The  hours  are 
irregular,  for  a  reporter  is  like  a  doctor  and  when  necessary 
must  work  without  regard  to  time.  This  applies  especially 
to  reporters  on  general  work.  There  are  unpleasant  things 
which  must  be  done,  such  as  asking  a  woman  for  the  details 
of  her  daughter's  suicide  or  trying  to  find  out  why  a  man  is 
suing  his  former  friend  for  alienation  of  his  dead  wife's  affec- 
tions. These  were  both  actual  assignments. 

Advantages 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  work  which  so  holds  those  who 
have  entered  it  as  newspaper  work.  Its  fascination  is  even 
greater  than  that  of  the  stage.  The  variety,  the  excitement, 
the  always  present  possibility  of  some  tremendous  event 
"breaking"  at  the  very  moment  when  you  are  wondering  if 
"news"  is  extinct  —  these  are  some  of  the  things  which  make 
newspaper  work  worth  while. 

As  a  reporter  you  will  come  in  contact  with  all  sorts  of 
people  under  all  sorts  of  conditions.  You  will  go  among  them 
as  a  privileged  spectator,  in  everything  but  not  of  it.  You 
will  see  a  little  at  least  of  the  stripped  machinery  of  life.  If 
these  things  do  not  seem  to  you  more  than  sufficient  compen- 
sation for  the  disadvantages,  keep  away  from  newspapers.  If 
they  do,  try  it,  and  perhaps  you  will  agree  with  Kipling  that 
it  is  the  greatest  game  in  the  world. 


THE  SPECIAL-ARTICLE  WRITER 

FLORENCE  J.  COWLES  \  * 

The  Boston  Sunday  Advertiser 

Description  of  occupation 

In  newspaper  work,  the  duty  of  the  special-article  writer  con- 
sists of  taking  any  suggestion  given  by  the  editor  and  devel- 
oping it  into  a  feature  story.    Occasionally  the  editor  may 


360  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

give  some  instruction  as  to  what  facts  he  wants  included  and 
how  he  wants  the  story  treated,  but  usually  when  he  gives 
the  assignment  to  the  special-story  writer  he  feels  that  he  is 
through  until  the  manuscript  is  in  his  hands. 

It  is  then  up  to  the  writer  to  plan  the  story,  to  find  and 
interview  some  willing  authority  on  the  subject  in  question, 
or  to  gather  up  the  statistics  and  material  to  put  into  it. 
Some  editors  state  how  long  they  want  the  story,  i.e.,  the 
number  of  words;  but  many  do  not  and  are  content  to  let 
the  story  tell  itself. 

Training  necessary 

There  is  no  special  training  necessary  for  a  woman  who  wants 
to  become  a  special  writer  or  newspaper  reporter.  Many  ed- 
itors prefer  untrained  women  who  have  not  had  journalistic 
courses  because  these  editors  are  apt  to  claim  that  a  defined 
technique  interferes  with  results.  All  courses  in  English  teach 
that  articles  should  have  three  parts,  an  introduction,  a  body, 
and  an  ending,  climax,  or  summary,  whatever  one  chooses  to 
call  it.  The  first  thing  to  be  learned  in  feature  writing,  how- 
ever, is  that  just  as  many  facts  as  possible  and  all  important 
ones  must  be  put  into  the  first  paragraph,  and  that  from  then 
on  the  article  must  work  down  to  pianissimo  so  that  when 
the  "make-up'*  man  comes  to  make-up  the  paper,  and  fit 
the  articles  in  among  numerous  advertisements,  he  can  cut 
off  the  end  of  the  story  without  disastrous  results.  Accord- 
ingly, it  can  readily  be  seen  that  all  one  has  learned  in  class 
must  be  forgotten  and  a  new  beginning  made. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Advancement  depends  entirely  upon  personality.  This  is  an 

unadorned  statement,  but  nevertheless  true. 

Financial  return 

With  the  establishment  in  Boston  last  year  of  Newspaper 

Writers'  Union  No.  1,  a  minimum  wage  of  $38  per  week  was 


THE  SPECIAL-ARTICLE  WRITER  361 

established  for  newspaper  writers.  Special  writers  can  go  as 
high  as  their  personality  and  their  ability  to  "get"  and  write 
stories  will  take  them.  This  minimum  salary  is  payable  after 
a  woman  has  served  for  three  years  on  a  daily  paper  or  papers. 
A  good  many  women  get  more  than  the  minimum  after  a 
short  apprenticeship. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  important  qualification  for  success  is  personality.  To 
talk  with  people  on  any  and  every  subject  requires  personality, 
and  to  be  a  go-between  for  an  editor  and  the  public  requires 
personality.  My  definition  of  personality,  of  course,  includes 
tact,  diplomacy,  sympathy,  and  knowledge  of  life.  Coupled 
with  that,  there  must  be  a  desire  to  write,  to  express  one's 
self  in  words  and  the  ability  to  adjust  one's  self  quickly  to 
surroundings,  for  personality  must  be  of  the  unobtrusive  kind 
and  one  that  will  give  way  readily  both  in  and  out  of  the  office. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  work  has  many  advantages.  It  keeps  one  in  touch  with 
what  is  going  on  in  the  world,  with  the  men  and  women  who 
do  and  think  things. 

Its  disadvantages  are  that  one  has  no  time  to  one's  self,  no 
time  on  which  to  count.  There  is,  of  course,  during  the  week  a 
great  deal  of  idle  time,  but  when  that  time  is  coming  no  one 
ever  knows  until  it  is  actually  upon  her.  Work  may  come  in 
the  morning,  afternoon,  or  evening.  Seldom  are  assignments 
given  for  all  three  times  the  same  day,  but  no  special-article 
writer  on  salary  can  tell  at  what  hour  of  the  day  or  night  her 
services  may  be  required.  At  present  none  but  those  who  work 
through  the  night  when  on  the  day  shift  get  any  specified 
time  off  during  the  week. 

Supply  and  demand 

At  present  there  are  an  average  of  three  women  employed  as 

special-article  writers  on  each  of  the  twelve  Sunday  and  daily 


S62  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

papers  in  Boston.  This  number,  of  course,  is  very  small  when 
compared  with  the  number  of  men  employed. 

There  is,  I  believe,  a  demand  for  women  of  the  right  sort  in 
this  work.  Unfortunately  the  profession  has  suffered  in  the 
past,  as  has  the  stage,  from  the  type  of  the  majority  of  women 
who  have  taken  it  up.  Editors  everywhere  are  now  looking  for 
a  different  type  of  woman,  for  they  find  that  it  pays  them  in 
the  end.  The  ethics  of  the  profession  are  steadily  improving. 

Reading 

The  only  reading  which  will  really  help  one  desirous  of  doing 
this  kind  of  work  is  a  regular  and  systematic  study  of  the 
newspapers.  Articles  should  be  analyzed  until  the  reader  can 
see  why  they  are  built  as  they  are,  for  there  is  always  a  reason. 

General 

Newspaper  writing  is  not  as  easy  as  it  looks.  Simplicity  is 
the  keynote  of  it  all,  the  aim  of  every  editor  and  therefore  of 
every  newswriter.  Short  words,  simple  English,  direct  thought, 
is  the  style  that  makes  the  successful  special-article  writer. 

THE  SUNDAY  EDITOR 

DOROTHY  PRATT 

Sunday  Editor,  Waterhury  Republican 

Description  of  occupation 

Newspaper  work  is  called  a  game.  Each  newspaper  office  is 
a  "Hoyle"  unto  itself.  The  first  thing  a  newcomer  in  a  news- 
paper office  does  is  to  ask  for  the  style,  or  rule  book,  and  read 
up  on  the  game  as  it  is  played  in  that  particular  office. 

The  work  of  the  Sunday  editor  on  the  "Boston  Globe,*'  for 
instance,  may  be  something  quite  different  from  that  of  the 
Sunday  editor  of  the  "New  York  World."  There  is  only  one 
thing  in  general  which  may  be  said  to  cover  them  both.  A 
Sunday  editor  has  something  to  do  with  some  part  of  the 
Sunday  supplement  of  a  newspaper. 


THE  SUNDAY  EDITOR  S63 

The  character  of  his  duties  is  determined  generally  "by  the 
size  of  the  paper  on  which  he  is  working.  On  larger  papers 
his  work  is  to  see  that  others  do  theirs  in  the  allotted  time. 
Under  him  are  feature  writers,  literary  editors,  dramatic 
editors,  automobile  editors  and  editors  of  all  the  different 
departments  which  may  be  part  of  the  particular  paper  on 
which  he  is  the  Sunday  editor.  He  also  has  at  his  service  the 
staff  photographer  and  the  staff  artist. 

The  Sunday  editor  assigns  the  feature  stories  for  the  Sunday 
paper.  Often  the  work  is  done  weeks  ahead  of  the  time  when 
it  is  to  be  published.  His  supervision  of  the  other  depart- 
ments mentioned  is  less  direct.  The  editors  of  these  depart- 
ments work  out  their  own  ideas  in  general,  and  only  turn 
their  "copy"  in  to  the  Sunday  editor  when  it  is  complete. 

On  certain  set  days  the  stories  thus  assigned  to  the  feature 
writers  are  submitted  to  the  Sunday  editor,  who  then  plans  his 
"make-up"  for  the  Sunday  paper.  That  is,  he  determines  the 
position  which  each  story  shall  have  and  how  the  pictures 
shall  be  grouped.  He  often  calls  in  the  staff  artist  to  draw 
decorations  about  the  pictures.  How  he  judges  the  value  of 
his  stories,  "whether  he  has  the  proper  emphasis,  or  "punch," 
in  his  heads  and  captions  and  accuracy  of  his  copy  reading, 
determine  whether  he  is  a  satisfactory  Sunday  editor.  It  is 
the  same  principle  on  which  merchandise  is  sold.  Quite  as 
important  as  having  good  goods  to  sell  is  the  attractiveness 
with  which  the  clever  merchant  displays  them. 

Some  papers  have  a  separate  Sunday  department  with 
feature  writers  whose  duty  it  is  to  write  for  the  Sunday  edition 
alone.  Other  Sunday  editors  assign  their  stories  to  the  city 
staff,  and  there  is,  properly  speaking,  no  Sunday  staff.  The 
"Boston  Globe"  arranges  its  Sunday  work  in  this  way. 

On  smaller  papers  the  Sunday  editor  is  often  the  general 
manager,  feature  writer,  literary,  automobile,  woman's  page, 
motion-picture,  dramatic,  and  poultry  editors  in  one,  besides 
being  staff  photographer  and,  when  the  occasion  demands, 
the  printer's  devil.   In  other  words,  he  must  know  how  to  be 


364  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

everything  at  any  time  and  he  is  never  quite  sure  what  he 
is.  Syndicate  material  which  comes  already  prepared  is  the 
salvation  of  the  Sunday  editor  who  has  these  varied  duties. 

Training  necessary 

There  is  one  thing  which  it  is  absolutely  essential  for  every 
newspaper  writer  to  learn  and  that  is  that  nothing  is  impos- 
sible. This  is  particularly  true  in  the  case  of  the  Sunday  ed- 
itor who  is  often  faced  with  the  necessity  of  getting  something 
done  in  a  very  short  time  with  next  to  nothing  to  work  with. 
A  natural  ability  to  plan,  and  level-headedness  in  an  emer- 
gency are  invaluable  qualifications. 

One  question  asked  repeatedly  about  the  work  of  the  Sun- 
day editor  is,  "Does  it  take  all  week  to  get  the  Sunday  paper 
out?"  The  answer  is,  " Most  certainly ,  yes ! "  On  practically 
every  paper  with  a  Simday  edition,  the  supplement  is  run 
ofip  the  press,  or  at  least  "made-up,"  on  Friday.  Saturday 
sees  the  beginning  of  another  week's  work. 

Just  as  varied  as  is  the  nature  of  the  work  of  a  Sunday  edi- 
tor is  the  training  necessary  for  it.  In  brief,  the  best  possible 
way  to  prepare  for  the  work  of  a  Sunday  editor  is  to  learn  as 
much  about  as  many  subjects  as  possible.  There  is  nothing 
which  one  may  study  which  may  not  at  one  time  or  another 
be  of  value  in  this  work.  Art,  history,  English,  drama,  science, 
all  figure.  The  better  background  of  knowledge  a  Sunday  ed- 
itor has,  the  more  possibilities  for  feature  stories  he  can  see 
in  events  of  the  present,  and  the  more  salable  he  makes  his 
paper.  A  good  high-school  education  followed  by  a  broad 
course  in  a  college  of  liberal  arts  is  the  best  preparation. 

Actual  knowledge  of  the  work  of  a  Sunday  editor  may  be 
gained  in  the  best  way  by  doing  it.  An  apprenticeship  of  a 
year  or  two  as  a  reporter,  during  which  time  the  novice  may 
learn  the  newspaper  game  not  only  as  concerns  his  own  job, 
but  through  observation,  that  of  every  other  person  on  the 
paper  including  the  Sunday  editor,  is  best. 

The  so-called  courses  in  journalism  are,  I  believe,  and  I 


THE  SUNDAY  EDITOR  365 

think  most  newspaper  men  also  maintain,  a  waste  of  time. 
One  may  learn  as  much  by  starting  in  as  a  cub  reporter 
and  working  up  through  his  apprenticeship  —  much  more 
than  he  can  in  any  course  in  journalism.  He  is,  at  the  same 
time,  earning  a  living.  There  is  much  theory  in  journal- 
ism courses  which  must  be  discarded  in  practice.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  few  editors  will  employ  as  Sunday  editor  a  gradu- 
ate of  a  school  of  journalism,  who  has  had  no  actual  expe- 
rience. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  greater  opportunity  for  advancement  in  the  news- 
paper field  than  in  any  other  for  the  right  person.  Newspaper 
men  are  naturally  of  a  roving  disposition.  Positions  are 
opening  continually  for  qualified  men  and  women. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  is  frankly  discouraging.  Within  the 
past  year,  however,  a  great  advance  in  wages  has  been  made. 
The  maximum  salary  for  a  Sunday  editor  is  about  $100  a 
week,  while  the  minimum  is  $22.  The  salary  paid  depends 
on  the  size  of  the  paper  generally.  Newspaper  workers,  how- 
ever, are  as  proverbially  poorly  paid  as  school  teachers. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  best  and  essential  qualification  for  success  as  a  Sunday 
editor  is  a  love  of  hard  work.  Women  who  plan  to  enter  the 
newspaper  field  must  also  make  up  their  minds  not  to  ex- 
pect any  treatment  different  from  that  which  men  accord 
one  another.  A  woman  is  no  different  in  this  respect  because 
she  is  a  woman.  One  of  the  most  delightful  featm-es  of  women 
in  newspaper  work  is  the  comradeship  between  them  and  the 
men  with  whom  they  work. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  newspaper  work  are  a  thorough  knowledge 

of  life  and  human  nature,  a  broad  education,  and  the  satis- 


i  366  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

faction  which  comes  from  a  hard  game  hardly  won.  News- 
paper workers,  particularly  feature  writers  and  Sunday 
editors  are  continually  meeting  all  sorts  of  people  under  all 
sorts  of  conditions.  They  are  called  upon  constantly  to 
write  about  some  subject  of  which  they  know  nothing.  The 
effort  to  obtain  material  for  the  article  or  story  at  hand  re- 
sults in  a  gradual  but  thorough  broadening  of  general  knowl- 
edge on  all  subjects. 

The  good  Sunday  editor  never  thinks  of  clocks.  His  days 
are  numbered  by  the  time  the  paper  goes  to  press.  This 
works  two  ways.  Newspaper  hours  may  be  irregular  and 
long,  but  there  is  also  a  freedom  from  monotony  which  makes 
oflSce  work  in  other  lines  often  a  drudgery. 

Women  who  are  planning  to  enter  the  newspaper  field 
to-day  can  congratulate  themselves  that  they  did  not  do  so 
a  decade  ago.  Then  a  woman  in  a  newspaper  oflfice  wa^  an 
unknown  quantity.  With  surprising  rapidity  women  are 
making  their  way  into  newspaper  offices  in  nearly  every 
city  in  positions  formerly  held  exclusively  by  men.  As  yet 
few  women  hold  executive  positions.  A  woman  Sunday,  city, 
or  telegraph  editor  is  still  something  of  a  novelty.  By  their 
willingness  to  work  hard,  their  docility,  and  their  persistence, 
women  are  proving  a  welcome  solution  of  labor  problems 
which  are  as  aggravating  to  editors  as  to  factory  managers. 

Reading 

A  GOOD  book  to  read  is  Hyde's  "Newspaper  Editing  and 
Reporting. "  A  close  following  of  the  best  papers  of  the  day, 
a  scrutiny  of  style,  and  a  comparison  of  the  way  in  which 
different  papers  write  and  edit  the  same  story  is  the  best 
kind  of  preparatory  reading. 

Much  that  I  have  said  applies  to  newspaper  work  in  general, 
but  all  of  it  is  applicable  to  the  work  of  a  Sunday  editor.  A 
good  Sunday  editor  must  first  have  been  a  good  reporter  and 
a  good  feature  writer. 


PERSONNEL  WORK 
THE  EDUCATIONAL  DIRECTOR  IN  STORES 

BERNICE  M.  CANNON 
Directory  Educational  Department,  William  Filene's  Sons  Company,  Boston 

Description  of  the  work 

The  supervising  of  all  training  and  educational  work  in  a 
store  is  a  new  and  developing  profession.  The  development 
of  this  profession  accompanies  a  widespread  movement  to- 
ward centralizing  employment  and  instruction  under  a  per- 
sonnel manager  for  the  sake  of  maintaining  uniform  standards 
of  dealing  with  employees  instead  of  the  hit-or-miss  methods 
which  prevail  when  each  foreman  or  department  head  does 
his  own  hiring  and  training. 

Most  managers  of  stores  who  have  seen  the  need  for  an 
educational  department  have  felt  that  its  chief  value  lay  in 
what  it  could  do  in  training  the  sales  force.  Wherever  educa- 
tional departments  exist,  therefore,  they  will  be  found  to  be 
training  new  salespeople  in  the  system  and  policies  of  the 
store  and  all  salespeople  in  the  principles  of  selling.  In  many 
places  instruction  is  also  given  whenever  the  error  system, 
which  most  stores  have,  reveals  individual  or  group  weak- 
nesses. Sometimes  teaching  of  salespeople  includes  instruc- 
tion in  merchandise  values. 

Usually  the  next  responsibility  which  an  educational  de- 
partment assumes  is  that  of  training  those  who  are  known  as 
the  store's  junior  members.  These  usually  include  cashiers, 
bundle  wrappers,  and  stock  girls  and  boys.  This  and  the 
sales  force  group,  however,  include  only  from  one  third  to 
one  half  of  the  whole  store  organization.  No  store  educational 
department  has  yet  assumed  its  responsibility  for  the  whole 
force.    Some  educational  directors  are  gradually  making 


S68  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN ' 

their  services  valuable  to  executives  who  formerly  did  for 
themselves  whatever  was  done  in  preparing  the  people  re- 
sponsible to  them.  It  is  a  slow  process  to  induce  executives 
to  use  the  services  of  a  specialist  in  training. 

With  the  full  development  of  the  service,  however,  a  real 
superintendent  of  education  in  a  store  should  expect  to  be 
held  responsible  for  training  employees  in  every  aspect  of  a 
store's  activity.  For  the  results  of  such  training  she  should 
be  specifically  responsible  to  the  executives  in  charge  of  the 
individual  or  group  of  individuals  trained,  whether  they  are 
executives  themselves  or  workers.  This  means  that  a  well- 
developed  department  should  be  equipped  with  teachers 
especially  skilled  in  each  class  of  store  service,  able  to  do  the 
task  as  well  as  to  teach  it.  v 

Because  of  their  varying  degrees  of  development  the  train- 
ing departments  in  stores  employ  from  one  to  twenty  or  more 
people.  This  does  not  take  into  account  the  many  stores 
which  still  employ  no  such  person. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

There  are  three  schools  which  definitely  train  for  educational 

work  in  stores.  They  are: 

Prince  School  of  Education  for  Store  Service,  Boston. 
Established  in  1905. 

Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology,  Pittsburgh.  Research 
Bureau  for  Retail  Training.  Established  in  1918. 

New  York  University,  New  York  City.  Training  School 
for  Teachers  of  Retail  Selling.     Established  in  1919. 

The  length  of  training  at  the  Prince  School  and  at  the 
Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology  is  one  year  each.  At  the 
New  York  University  the  course  is  two  years. 

While  those  without  college  education,  but  with  valuable 
business  experience,  are  admitted  to  these  schools,  the 
tendency  is  to  attract  college  men  and  women. 

Undergraduate  subjects  of  special  value  would  be  econom- 
ics, sociology,  pedagogy,  and  psychology,  and,  if  possible, 


EDUCATIONAL  DIRECTOR  IN  STORES      369 

some  course  in  business  administration  and  employment 
management.  In  some  colleges,  business  courses  of  this  kind 
are  available  to  undergraduates. 

If  a  college  graduate  finds  it  imperative  to  go  to  work  in- 
stead of  getting  more  training  at  the  end  of  her  college  course, 
she  may  find  it  valuable  to  enter  a  store  where  there  is  a  well- 
established  training  department  and  thus  earn  enough  money 
for  further  training  or  take  advantage  of  whatever  opportu- 
nity arises  for  working  into  the  educational  department.  If 
possible,  however,  special  training  at  one  of  the  approved 
schools  is  strongly  advocated. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  person  who  can  foresee  the  full  development  of  a  train- 
ing department  from  the  rather  crude  beginnings  which  she 
must  necessarily  make,  will  realize  that  she  has  a  large  and 
responsible  piece  of  work  to  do  and  a  position  to  fill  in  this 
particular  part  of  personnel  work  important  enough  to  satisfy 
any  one's  ambition.  Some  educational  directors,  however, 
after  starting  the  organization  of  a  training  department  have 
accepted  the  position  of  personnel  manager,  in  charge  of 
education,  employment,  and  sometimes  the  so-called  welfare 
work. 

Opportunities  in  the  buying  field  or  in  assisting  chief  ex- 
ecutives in  the  merchandise  or  service  divisions  sometimes 
attract  people  who  have  gone  into  business  in  the  first  place 
to  do  educational  work  and  have  found  actual  executive 
responsibility  of  greater  interest. 

Financial  returns 

The  specially  trained  person  receives  from  $1200  or  $1500  to 
$2000  at  the  start,  and  after  years  of  experience  a  few  have 
attained  salaries  between  $4000  and  $5000. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  PERSON  to  be  successful  should  be  interested  in  developing 

the  abilities  of  people,  patient  and  willing  to  work  steadily 


370  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

and  thoroughly;  should  have  teaching  instinct;  skill  in  analy- 
sis; capacity  to  plan  for  specific  needs;  personal  force  to  put 
through  her  plan ;  and  good  health.  She  should  be  a  graduate 
of  a  college  or  a  four  years'  normal  school,  with  teaching  or 
business  experience.  She  should  have  special  skill  in  some 
part  of  store  operation  as  a  basis  for  teaching  that  particular 
kind  of  work. 

Advantages 

The  great  advantages  of  this  work  I  believe  to  heifirsty  that 
it  is  in  its  first  stages  of  development  with  promise  of  large  in- 
crease in  importance.  This  fact  would  especially  appeal  to 
those  who  have  a  pioneering  spirit  and  originality.  Second, 
that  it  is  a  field  where  results  of  teaching  are  easily  seen  and 
possible  of  measurement.  Third,  that  it  offers  an  important 
opportunity  for  working  out  democratic  principles  in  a  field 
now  very  autocratic.  Fourth,  that  in  many  places  it  offers  op- 
portunity to  work  with  high-minded,  idealistic  business  men 
who  are  eager  to  see  their  ideals  realized  in  actual  store 
practice. 

Disadvantages 

The  long  hours,  the  comparatively  short  vacations,  and  the 
utter  lack  of  idealism  or  feeling  of  social  responsibility  found 
among  some  employers,  are  the  greatest  disadvantages. 

Demand  and  supply 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  demand  far  exceeds  the  supply. 
The  Prince  School  has  for  a  number  of  years  been  the  only 
place  where  training  could  be  obtained.  Its  graduates  are 
usually  all  placed  before  the  year's  course  is  over. 

The  Research  Bureau  for  Retail  Training  at  the  Carnegie 
Institute  of  Technology  is  only  in  its  second  year.  The 
graduates  of  the  first  class  have  all  been  placed. 

New  York  University  course  for  teachers  of  retail  selling 
is  in  its  first  year,  and  therefore  has  no  record  of  placement. 


EDUCATIONAL  DIRECTOR  IN  STORES      371 

It  has  had  for  some  time  a  course  in  the  administration  of 
corporate  schools.  It  beHeves  that  it  has  been  successful  in 
turning  out  men  and  women  of  high  caliber  in  this  course. 

The  experience  of  the  Prince  School  as  to  the  locality 
making  the  greatest  demand  is  the  only  source  of  information 
which  will  be  valuable  at  this  stage  because  the  other  schools 
are  so  new  in  the  field.  At  present  the  greatest  demand  comes 
first  from  the  Middle  West,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Michigan;  next  from  the  East;  and  third  from  the  Western 
coast,  California  particularly. 

Numbers  employed  throughout  the  country:  Prince  School 
Graduates,  of  195  graduates  115  are  at  present  employed  in 
stores.  Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology,  Research  Bureau 
for  Retail  Selling,  15  graduates  have  been  placed. 

Service  to  society 

To  have  the  biggest  conception  of  an  educational  department, 
it  must  be  considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  contribu- 
tion to  society  in  the  kind  of  people  it  develops  through  its 
training.  With  the  emphasis  to-day  on  the  democratization 
of  industry,  the  methods  of  the  training  department,  whether 
its  work  is  job  analysis,  job  standardization,  the  rating  of 
people  on  the  quality  of  their  work,  or  the  developing  of  ex- 
ecutives in  democratic  leadership  of  their  subordinates,  should 
be  democratic.  If  such  methods  are  used,  it  should  react  on 
society  through  adding  to  the  number  of  better  citizens. 

Effect  on  worker 

If  the  store  employing  an  educational  director  is  one  where 
she  is  free  to  develop  her  ideas  as  rapidly  and  in  as  far-reaching 
a  way  as  she  is  capable,  this  work  offers  one  of  the  greatest 
fields  for  personal  growth  and  development.  Changing  condi- 
tions constantly  force  the  teacher  with  intelligence  and  skill 
to  find  newer  and  better  methods  so  that  her  teaching  will 
be  put  into  successful  practice.  This  is  a  constant  challenge 
to  her. 


372  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Suggested  reading 

There  is  very  little  literature  which  deals  directly  with 

educational  work  in  stores.  The  following  are  recommended: 

"Department  Store  Education'*  —  Helen  R.  Norton.  Pub- 
lished by  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  Bureau  of 
Education,  Washington,  D.C. 

"Retail  Selling"  — Mrs.  L.  W.  Prince.  Published  by  the 
Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education,  Washington, 
D.C. 

"Department  Store  Merchandise  Manuals"  —  Edited  by 
Miss  Beulah  E.  Kennard.  Published  by  the  Ronald 
Press  Co.,  New  York. 

"Text  Book  on  Retail  SeUing "  — Helen  R.  Norton.  Pub- 
lished by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston. 

The  following  list  of  books  is  valuable  to  read  for  the  sake 
of  obtaining  a  view  of  the  whole  field  of  personnel  work  and 
an  insight  into  the  need  for  the  better  organization  and 
democratization  of  industry: 

"The    Creative    Impulse    in    Industry"  —  Helen    Marot. 

E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 
"Employment  Management"  —  Daniel  Bloomfield.    H.  W. 

Wilson. 
"The  Great  Society"  — Graham  Wallas.    The  Macmillan 

Company. 
"Hiring  the  Worker"  —  Roy  Kelly.  Ronald  Press. 
"Increasing  Human  Efficiency  in  Business"  —  Walter  Dill 

Scott.  The  Macmillan  Company. 
"The  Instructor,  the  Man,  and  the  Job"  —  Chas.  R.  Allen. 

J.  B.  Lippincott  Company. 
"Instincts  in  Industry"  —  Ordway  Tead.  Houghton  Mifflin 

Company. 
"The  Knack  of  Managing"  —  Herbert  Watson.  A.  W.  Shaw 

Company. 
"Man-to- Man"  —  John  Leitch.  B.  C.  Forbes  Company. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT  MANAGER  S73 

"Modern  Industrial  Movements"  —  Daniel  Bloomfield. 
H.  W.  Wilson. 

"The  New  State"  —  M.  P.  Follett.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

"Organizing  for  Work"  —  H.  L.  Gantt.  Harcourt,  Brace  & 
Howe. 

"Scientific  Management  and  Labor"  —  R.  F.  Hoxie. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

"When  the  Workmen  Help  You  Manage"  —  W.  R.  Bassett. 
Century  Company. 

"The  Works  Manager  of  To-Day "  — Sidney  Webb.  Long- 
mans, Green  &  Co. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT  MANAGER 

JANE  C.  Wn^LLVMS 

Director  of  Personnel,  Plimpton  Press 

Description  of  occupation 

The  complexity  of  modern  industry  brought  about  the 
division  of  major  responsibilities  into  three  definite  groups: 
finance,  manufacturing,  and  sales,  each  under  a  separate 
head.  During  the  last  few  years,  with  the  growing  difficulties 
in  the  labor  situation,  the  industry  has  come  to  realize  that 
these  problems  are  among  the  most  serious  with  which  it  has 
to  deal,  and  a  fourth  division  has  been  added  to  the  group; 
namely,  a  department  to  handle  industrial  relations. 

The  field  of  activity  in  this  department  comprises  all 
human  relations  within  an  industry.  Here  are  centered  all 
selection,  hiring,  wage-setting,  training,  transferring,  promot- 
ing, disciplining,  and  discharging  of  employees.  Those  en- 
gaged in  this  activity  must  find  sources  of  labor  supply  and 
methods  of  tapping  these  sources.  They  must  deal  with  the 
problems  of  absenteeism  and  tardiness  and  find  methods  of 
remedying  these  very  serious  handicaps.  Application  and 
employment  records  of  various  kinds  are  kept  for  each  in- 
dividual and  for  groups  of  individuals,  and  a  general  audit 


374  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

of  labor  conditions  within  the  factory.  Activities  dealing 
with  safety,  fatigue,  health  and  sanitation,  thrift,  housing, 
sick  benefits,  etc.,  are  directed  through  this  department. 
Channels  are  here  supplied  to  all  employees  for  the  expression 
of  grievances  and  their  settlement.  In  so  far  as  shop  commit- 
tees and  group  representation  are  introduced  in  a  given  plant, 
the  direction  is  usually  left  to  this  department. 

Preparation  necessary 

Those  who  are  now  engaged  in  this  activity  have  received 
their  training  and  experience  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  the 
profession  is  so  young  that  it  is  not  yet  possible  to  determine 
what  is  the  best  method  of  obtaining  entrance  to  this  field. 
Probably  an  academic  education  supplemented  by  technical 
training  and  experience  will  bring  about  the  quickest  results. 
The  following  colleges  are  offering  special  courses,  chiefly 
post-graduate  courses,  in  employment  management :  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts;  Boston  University, 
Boston,  Massachusetts;  Bureau  of  Industrial  Research,  New 
York  City;  Bryn  Mawr  College,  Philadelphia;  Columbia 
University,  New  York  City;  Rochester  University,  Rochester, 
New  York.  An  undergraduate  student  in  an  academic  col- 
lege will  undoubtedly  benefit  in  preparing  for  this  work  by 
paying  special  heed  to  economics  and  to  history.  In  addition 
to  the  theory  obtained  in  these  ways,  it  is  extremely  desirable 
and  probably  necessary  to  get  actual  experience  by  work- 
ing in  a  factory  or  store,  doing  such  work  as  any  applicant  for 
a  job  might  have  to  do.  The  greater  the  amount  of  experience 
one  gets  in  this  way,  the  more  beneficial  the  results. 

Qualifications  desirable 

The  following  natural  qualifications  are  desirable  for  success 
in  this  undertaking:  integrity,  ability  to  inspire  as  well  as 
deserve  confidence,  an  even  disposition,  impartial  judgment 
not  affected  by  sympathy,  sympathetic  nature,  ability  to 
understand  human  nature,  sense  of  humor,  tact.   While  no 


'THE  JUNIOR  EMPLOYMENT  AGENT        375 

special  skill  is  required,  experience  develops  the  natural 
qualifications. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  duties  of  an  employment  manager  require  long  hours  and 
a  good  deal  of  confinement,  but  the  position  appeals  to  and 
satisfies  one  who  has  a  real  desire  for  service  and  who  enjoys 
dealing  with  people.  At  the  present  time  the  supply  of  trained 
people  is  inadequate  to  meet  the  demand,  but  there  is  a  sur- 
plus of  people  who  desire  to  enter  the  field  and  who  have  not 
yet  acquired  suflScient  experience. 

Financial  return 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  depends  entirely  upon  the 
individual.  The  minimum  and  maximum  salaries  vary  for 
women  from  $1200  to  $5000. 

Reading 

The  following  books  are  suggested  as  readings  to  assist  one  in 

determining  whether  or  not  she  wishes  to  enter  this  field: 

"Employment  Management"  —  Meyer  Bloomfield. 

"Hirmg  the  Worker"  —  Roy  Kelly. 

"The  Administration  of  Industrial  Enterprises"  —  Edward 

D.  Jones. 
"Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 

Science,"  May,  1916,  and  May,  1917. 
"Modem  Industrial  Movements"  —  Daniel  Bloomfield. 

THE  JUNIOR  EMPLOYMENT  AGENT 

DOROTHEA  DE  SCHWEINITZ 

Secretary  in  charge  of  Placement,  While-Williams  Foundation,  Philadelphia 

Description  of  occupation 

The  junior  employment  agent  finds  positions  for  boys  and 
girls  who  have  reached  the  legal  working  age  and  are  obliged 
or  desire  to  go  to  work.  This  usually  means  serving  boys  and 


376  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

girls  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty-one.  In  order 
that  helpful  advice  may  be  given  to  them,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  educational  resources  of  a  city  (especially  evening  classes 
and  technical  schools)  be  known  as  well  as  the  processes  in  the 
city's  industries  and  the  opportunities  in  the  business  and 
professional  world. 

The  junior  counselor  or  employment  agent,  therefore, 
spends  part  of  her  time  in  interviewing  young  people  and 
sending  them  to  positions,  and  another  part  of  her  time 
visiting  industrial  establishments  and  business  houses.  Only 
in  this  way  can  she  fit  the  right  type  of  worker  into  the  right 
job.  Each  young  worker  presents  an  individual  problem 
which  must  be  met  in  accordance  with  his  or  her  physical, 
mental,  or  temperamental  qualities. 

In  order  to  perform  this  service  individually  the  junior 
employment  agent  keeps  a  registration  card  and  record  of 
every  interview  as  well  as  a  trade  record  of  each  child.  An 
employer's  order  card  and  a  descriptive  record  of  visits  to 
industrial  plants  is  also  kept.  This  attention  to  detail  is 
absolutely  essential  to  thorough  work.  "Follow-up"  cards 
are  sent  to  the  young  persons  several  months  after  they  have 
been  placed  in  positions,  asking  them  to  come  to  an  evening 
office  hour  for  consultation  concerning  their  progress  at  work, 
additional  study  and  opportunities  for  the  future. 

In  most  cities  this  work  is  done  either  by  the  public  schools 
or  in  close  association  with  them.  One  of  the  chief  functions 
of  a  junior  employment  bureau  should  be  transmitting  to 
school  teachers  the  occupational  information  gained  through 
this  direct  contact  with  the  various  firms  of  the  city.  On  the 
other  hand,  teachers  should  send  in  a  careful  school  record  and 
other  significant  information  with  each  pupil  who  applies 
for  work  at  the  placement  bureau.  The  junior  employment 
agent  should  guard  against  placing  an  applicant  in  a  position 
that  happens  to  be  at  hand  instead  of  one  that  suits  the  in- 
dividual. She  should  also  bear  in  mind  that  business  and  in- 
dustrial requirements  should  not  be  the  only  standards  for  the 


THE  JUNIOR  EMPLOYMENT  AGENT        377 

products  of  education.  It  is  necessary  also  for  her  to  make 
clear  to  teachers  that  the  schools  cannot  expect  too  much  of 
industry  at  present. 

Although  vast  improvement  has  been  made  recently  in  the 
selection  and  training  of  workers  and  in  the  policy  of  trans- 
ferring and  promoting  employees  from  one  department  to 
another,  yet  business  and  industry  are  run  primarily  for 
production  and  profitable  returns  and  not  as  institutions  for 
the  development  of  individuals.  The  importance  of  placement 
work  to-day  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  makes  considerable  differ- 
ence in  what  particular  firm  one  obtains  a  position.  *'From 
oflSce  boy  to  president  of  the  firm"  may  still  hold  good,  but  it 
is  a  natural  tendency  to  keep  an  employee  in  the  corner  of  the 
work  which  he  understands  and  does  well,  regardless  of  his 
own  interests.  In  manual  work,  especially,  the  subdivision  of 
processes  tends  to  keep  the  worker  at  one  simple  operation 
rather  than  to  teach  him  the  scheme  of  the  manufacture  or 
the  intricacies  of  an  old-time  trade. 

The  junior  employment  agent,  then,  is  the  go-between  of  the 
schools  and  business,  interpreting  the  one  to  the  other  so  that 
each  may  adapt  its  methods  for  the  better  development  and 
consideration  of  the  human  material  which  passes  through 
its  doors.  And  all  of  the  time  that  this  is  being  done,  the 
daily  routine  consists  of  finding  for  each  individual  a  definite 
position  which  is  particularly  fitted  for  him,  and  of  following 
his  progress  the  first  few  years  of  his  working  life. 

Preparation  necessary 

At  the  present  time  most  junior  employment  workers  are 
trained  in  the  placement  bureau  after  they  begin  work.  The 
best  preparation  would  include  some  teaching  experience, 
family  visiting  with  an  understanding  of  case-work  methods, 
and  also  at  least  a  few  weeks'  experience  as  an  unskilled 
factory  worker.  The  study  of  sociology,  economics,  and 
psychology  is  very  important  for  this  work.  A  special  voca- 
tional guidance  course  is  given  at  Harvard  University  during 


87d  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  winter  terms  and  at  summer  school.  A  number  of  schools 
of  philanthropy  include  a  few  lectures  on  vocational  guidance 
and  employment  work  in  other  courses. 

On  the  whole  it  is  better  not  to  engage  in  junior  employ- 
ment work  immediately  upon  leaving  college.  Judgments 
must  be  sure  and  quickly  made.  Contact  with  employer  and 
prospective  employee  is  unfortunately  brief.  By  previous 
experience  in  family  visiting  one  gains  a  very  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  various  economic  and  social  forces  that 
govern  the  choice  of  employment.  Every  young  person  who 
sits  at  the  desk  applying  for  work  is  not  only  an  individual  to 
be  understood,  but  also  a  member  of  a  family  group.  First- 
hand impressions  of  the  unskilled,  monotonous  factory 
operations  and  some  contact  with  the  more  skilled  trades  is 
invaluable  for  knowing  the  reactions  of  the  worker  on  the 
job.  The  importance  of  teaching  experience  is  obvious.  All 
of  these  elements  serve  to  broaden  judgment  and  under- 
standing of  people. 

Since  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  time  to  build  up  information 
on  the  occupational  resources  of  a  community  (and  this 
information  is  most  valuable  when  it  is  first  hand)  the  advice 
of  a  junior  employment  agent  becomes  more  helpful  each 
year.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  she  devote  a  number  of 
years  to  this  work.  This  is  another  reason  why  it  is  wise  not 
to  enter  upon  it  until  a  few  years  after  graduation,  after  one 
has  gone  through  the  period  of  trying  one  or  two  occupations 
and  is  ready  to  settle  down  to  something  more  or  less  per- 
manently. However,  many  junior  bureaus  are  engaging 
recent  graduates  for  the  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Advancement  in  this  line  of  work  would  be  from  junior 
employment  agent  or  counselor  to  supervisor  of  a  junior 
bureau,  possibly  then  to  supervisor  of  a  system  of  bureaus. 


THE  JUNIOR  EMPLOYMENT  AGENT        379 

Financial  return 

Salaries  for  junior  employment  workers  run  from  $900  to 
$1720.  The  starting  salary  is  apt  to  be  $1200.  Salaries  for 
supervisory  work  run  as  high  as  $2600. 

Qualifications 

The  success  of  a  counselor  depends  on  a  certain  natural  ability 
to  draw  people  out  and  get  them  to  talk  about  themselves, 
discovering  for  the  individual  interests  which  he  may  never 
have  expressed  before.  Persistence  and  resourcefulness  are 
required  in  order  to  accomplish  something  real  for  the  appli- 
cant. One  must  be  thoroughly  interested  in  people  as  individ- 
uals rather  than  in  groups.  A  fair  and  judicial  mind  is  needed 
to  win  the  confidence  of  employers  and  employees. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Through  the  medium  of  junior  employment  work  a  tremen- 
dous amount  of  industrial  information  is  acquired.  Types  of 
workers  in  particular  industries,  grades  of  skill  required,  prob- 
lems of  seasonal  occupations,  "unemployment  in  employ- 
ment," wages,  hours,  the  natures  of  foremen  and  forewomen, 
employment  managers'  diflSculties  —  the  understanding  of 
these  is  valuable  in  a  time  when  unions,  shop  committees,  and 
other  forms  of  representation  are  under  constant  discussion. 
Through  contact  with  children  who  have  not  fitted  into  the 
school  routine  (either  because  they  were  not  academically 
inclined  or  because  they  were  considerably  brighter  than  their 
classmates),  the  counselor  acquires  a  special  understanding 
of  the  current  discussion  on  newer  ideals  of  education. 

The  chief  disadvantage  in  this  work  is  found  in  the  nervous 
strain  caused  by  the  constant  interviewing  of  different  per- 
sons on  a  busy  day.  Meeting  with  one  personality  after 
another  and  transferring  intense  application  from  one  person's 
problem  to  the  next  become  very  wearing.  At  times  when 
there  are  not  such  great  numbers  attending  the  bureau,  the 
work  is  varied  and  interesting. 


380  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Extent  of  occupation 

Junior  employment  is  a  comparatively  new  field  of  activity. 
Although  various  forms  of  vocational  guidance  are  conducted 
in  every  large  city,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  how  much  actual 
placement  work  is  being  done.  New  York  City  and  State, 
Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  and  Cincinnati  represent  thirty- 
eight  full-time  and  five  part-time  junior  employment  workers. 
Twenty  of  these  are  in  the  New  York  State  employment  system 
in  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Syracuse,  Albany,  as  well  as  in  New 
York  City.  Boston,  Providence,  Cleveland,  South  Bend,  Chi- 
cago, Minneapolis,  and  other  cities  are  engaged  in  this  work. 

Suggested  reading 

"The   Vocational   Guidance   Movement"  —  Brewer.     The 

Macmillan  Company. 
"Youth,     School     and     Vocation"  —  Meyer     Bloomfield. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 
"Readings  in  Vocational  Guidance"  —  Meyer  Bloomfield. 

Ginn  &  Company. 
"Commercial  Work  and  Training  for  Girls"  —  Stevens  and 

Eaton.  The  Macmillan  Company. 
"The  Pittsburgh  Survey"  —  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 
"The  Cleveland  Survey"  —  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 
"Education  for  Industrial  Workers"  —  Herman  Schneider. 

World  Book  Company. 
"The  Psychological  Laboratory  as  an  Adjutant  to  a  Voca- 
tional Bureau"  —  Mrs.   Helen   T.   WooUey.    National 

Conference  of  Vocational  Guidance  Proceedings,  1912. 
"Fatigue  and  Efficiency"  —  Josephine  Goldmark.    Russell 

Sage  Foundation. 
"The  Unemployed  in  Philadelphia,  1915  "  —  Joseph  Willits. 

Department  of  PubHc  Works. 
"The  Creative  Impulse  in  Industry"  —  Helen  Marot.  E.  P. 

Button  &  Co. 
"Labour  in  the  Commonwealth "  — G.  D.  H.  Cole.   B.  W. 

Huebsch  Company. 


CONSULTANT  IN  LABOR  MANAGEMENT    381 

"Employment  Psychology"  —  Henry  C.  Link.    The  Mac- 

millan  Company. 
"The  Human  Factor  in  Industry"  —  Lee  K.  Frankel.   The 

Macmillan  Company. 


THE  WOMAN  CONSULTANT  IN  LABOR 
MANAGEMENT 


JEAN  HOSKINS 

Considtant  in  Employment  Management 

Description  of  occupation 

Labor  management  in  industry  has  been  developing  for  about 
ten  years.  With  the  impetus  given  it  during  the  period  of  the 
war,  it  seems  at  last  to  have  come  into  its  own  and  is  being 
recognized  as  an  important  profession.  The  old  idea  that  any 
one  with  a  knowledge  of  production  was  able  to  "  hire  and  fire  " 
workers  has  left  in  charge  of  labor  problems  in  plants  many 
who  are  little  more  than  hiring  clerks.  But  the  new  workers 
coming  into  this  field  are  being  recruited  from  an  entirely 
different  source.  Where  one  formerly  saw  the  stout,  matronly, 
welfare  woman,  one  now  sees  an  essentially  different  type  of 
well-trained,  attractive  woman,  often  in  charge  of  the  indus- 
trial relations  work  for  both  men  and  women  in  the  plant. 
Educated  women,  well  grounded  in  economic  principles,  with 
broad  social  consciousness,  are  adding  to  this  a  knowledge  of 
modern  production  methods,  in  order  to  intelligently  direct 
the  management  of  labor  in  industrial  plants. 

To  the  growing  recognition  by  Management  of  the  impor- 
tance of  having  and  keeping  contented  workers  with  a  real 
incentive  to  work  while  on  the  job,  has  also  come  the  more 
recent  appreciation  of  the  value  of  giving  workers,  as  well 
as  Management,  sound  economic  principles  and  business 
knowledge,  which  they  may  apply  to  themselves  in  relation 
to  their  work  and  to  their  community  life.  All  this  means 
not  only  selecting  and  placing  employees,  but  introducing 


\ 


382  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

numerous  educational  activities  which  can  only  be  intelli- 
gently developed  by  an  experienced  person.  The  training  of 
foremen  and  instructors,  the  follow-up  and  development  of 
the  individual  worker,  the  health  work,  sanitation  and  hy- 
giene, proper  feeding,  safety,  the  assimilation  of  foreign  em- 
ployees, various  forms  of  shop  representation  and  extra- 
payment  plans,  all  demand  the  services  of  the  very  highest 
type  of  executive. 

The  labor  diflSculties  during  the  war,  and  the  very  grave 
need  for  production  since  the  armistice,  together  with  the  ex- 
treme unrest  throughout  the  country,  have  created  a  de- 
mand for  specialists  in  labor  management.  As  there  has  been 
little  time  to  train  experts  for  the  many  plants  requiring  help, 
experienced  industrial  relations  managers  have  responded 
to  the  urge,  and  have  entered  consulting  work,  organizing 
employment  departments,  and  advising  on  definite  labor 
problems  and  adjustments.  Competent  consultants  are  needed 
to  instruct  and  train  the  new  employment  manager  in  the 
plant,  and  at  the  same  time  to  organize  and  develop  the 
industrial  relations  work. 

Human  relations  are  so  intimately  involved  in  the  work 
of  such  a  department  that  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be 
placed  on  starting  with  a  soUd  foundation  if  we  wish  to 
insure  future  progress.  Keen  appreciation  of  the  best  ap- 
proach to  the  work  in  each  plant,  ability  to  select  just  the 
right  point  of  attack  to  immediately  establish  confidence  and 
avoid  friction,  cannot  be  given  too  much  consideration.  Many 
serious  misunderstandings  and  months  of  antagonism  may  be 
avoided  through  the  careful  and  intelligent  introduction  of 
each  new  feature  of  the  work.  The  new  employment  manager 
may  profit  through  mistakes,  but  the  eiffect  of  the  disaster  on 
the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  plant  cannot  be  so  easily  rectified. 

Training  and  preparation 

The  first  special  training  of  employment  managers  began  in 

1918,  with  the  six  weeks*  war  emergency  courses  in  employ- 


CONSULTANT  IN  LABOR  MANAGEIVIENT    383 

ment  management.  Among  the  few  educational  institutions 
now  giving  one-year  full-time  courses  is  Bryn  Mawr  College, 
which  admits  only  post-graduate  women  students  who  have 
special  qualifications  for  this  work,  and  who  are  selected  by 
the  director  of  the  course.  The  Bureau  of  Industrial  Research, 
New  York,  conducts  a  similar  course  and  also  has  very  high 
entrance  requirements.  Most  of  the  larger  colleges  now  have 
short  industrial  courses,  designed  to  train  men  and  women 
for  this  work,  though  it  is  a  question  whether  the  part-time 
courses  are  not  really  productive  of  more  harm  than  good.  It 
is  becoming  more  and  more  necessary  to  have  acquired  knowl- 
edge of  economics,  psychology,  history,  the  development  of 
the  labor  movement,  a  broad  understanding  of  life  and  people, 
some  industrial  experience,  and  technical  knowledge,  before 
assuming  the  responsibility  of  the  management  of  labor  in 
one  plant.  In  considering  consulting  work,  one  must  add  to 
all  this  years  of  actual  plant  work  in  various  industries.  For 
the  woman  hoping  eventually  to  enter  consulting  work  or  to 
organize  industrial  relations  departments,  it  is  also  important 
that  she  should  have  had  charge  of  personnel  and  employ- 
ment work  with  men  as  well  as  with  women.  She  should 
know  men's  jobs,  including  machine  shop  and  repair  work, 
carpentry,  loom-fixing,  welding,  the  various  men's  operations 
in  the  clothing  industry,  metal  trades,  etc.  She  should  have 
worked  in  union  and  non-union  shops,  and  should  be  familiar 
with  trade-union  organizations  and  modern  methods  of  in- 
dustrial management.  In  this  work  with  human  beings,  the 
personality  of  the  individual  in  charge  plays  a  most  impor- 
tant part.  All  the  knowledge  of  people,  industry,  economics, 
and  what  not  is  of  no  avail  without  the  ability  to  instil  confi- 
dence and  liking  —  something  "spiritual  and  reciprocal "  —  in 
management  and  worker. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  consultant  in  Industrial  Relations  enjoys  a  measure  of 

freedom  not  always  possessed  by  the  individual  in  one  plant. 


384  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

She  can  exercise  great  influence  in  the  development  and 
maintenance  of  the  high  standards  which  must  obtain  in  this 
field.  She  is  also  in  a  position  to  encourage,  advise,  and  sus- 
tain her  co-workers.  She  comes  in  contact  with  owners,  man- 
agers, and  stockholders  in  a  way  which  often  enables  her 
to  influence  their  trend  of  thought  as  well  as  their  ideas  as  to 
the  actual  management  of  industrial  plants.  She  is  in  a  great 
educational  movement  which  can  fully  utilize  her  woman's 
instinct  for  service.  This  occupation,  however,  involves  much 
very  hard  work,  traveling  from  place  to  place,  continual 
adaptation  to  different  conditions,  and  all  kinds  of  sacrifice  of 
personal  life  and  comfort.  Only  those  with  the  real  pioneer 
spirit  and  much  physical  strength  and  moral  courage  should 
attempt  it. 

Supply  and  demand 

So  far  only  one  or  two  women  have  undertaken  consulting 
work  in  this  absorbing  field  of  labor  management.  In  this 
as  well  as  in  most  other  professions  it  seems  necessary  that  a 
woman,  in  order  to  succeed,  must  greatly  excel  a  man  in  both 
ability  and  experience.  It  therefore  behooves  every  woman 
entering  this  comparatively  new  field  of  service  to  be  fully 
qualified. 

Reading 

Commons  —  "History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States.*' 
Macmillan,  1913. 

Gleason  —  "What  the  Worker  Wants."  Harcourt,  Brace  & 
Howe,  1920. 

Bloomfield  —  "  Selected  Articles  on  Employment  Manage- 
ment." H.  W.  Wilson,  1919. 

Link — "Employment  Psychology."    Macmillan,  1919. 

Tead  and  Metcalf  —  "Personnel  Administration."  McGraw- 
Hill,  1920. 

Commons  — "Industrial  Goodwill."  McGraw-Hill,  1919. 

Carpenter— "Toward  Industrial  Freedom."   Scribner,  1917. 


CONSULTANT  IN  LABOR  MANAGEMENT    S85 

Taylor — "Principles  of  Scientific  Management."    Harper, 

1913. 
Gantt —  "Work,  Wages  and  Profit."    "Engineering  Maga- 
zine," 1913. 
Webb—  "The  Works  Manager  Today."  Longmans,  1917. 
National  Industrial  Conference  Board  —  Works  Councils. 

1919. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political   and  Social 
Science,  Philadelphia.  , 

"Industrial    Management."      Engineering    Magazine    Co., 

New  York. 
"Monthly  Labor  Review."      U.  S.  Department  of  Labor 

Statistics. 
"The  Survey."    Survey  Associates,  Inc.  New  York. 
"Advance."    Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  America, 

New  York.  . 
"American  Federationist."    American  Federation  of  Labor, 

New  York. 


PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 
THE  FIELD  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 

AMY  MORRIS  HOMANS,  M.A. 

Organizer  and  Director,  Boston  Normal  School  of  Gymnastics  and  the 
Department  of  Hygiene,  Wellesley  CoUege 

Description  of  work 

The  subject  of  physical  education  is  so  closely  related  to  that 
of  hygiene  that  any  teacher  of  the  former  is  expected  to  be 
conversant  with  the  latter,  and  especially  with  that  part  of 
it  coming  under  the  head  of  personal  hygiene.  The  two  taken 
together  may  be  defined  in  terms  of  their  aimst  (1)  To  present 
an  ideal  of  a  wholesome,  active,  sensible  mode  of  living,  based 
on  the  laws  of  the  organism  as  far  as  modem  science  has  re- 
vealed those  laws.  (2)  To  contribute  to  the  general,  all-round 
education  of  the  individual  through  systematic  training  of 
her  motor  mechanism  to  the  end  of  (a)  improving  her  poise 
(mental,  moral,  and  physical),  her  self-control  and  self-re- 
liance, and  to  widen  her  resources  for  complete  Hving;  (b)  to 
train  those  quaUties  which  make  for  social  efficiency,  such  as 
sense  of  justice  and  fair  play,  of  law  and  order;  a  spirit  of  co- 
operation, subordination  of  self-interest  to  group  advantage, 
loyalty. 

The  actual  work  consists  of  formal  and  informal  instruction 
in  personal  (and  public)  hygiene;  organization,  direction, 
supervision,  and  conduction  of  bodily  activities  carried  on  by 
groups:  play,  games,  athletics,  dancing,  gymnastics,  in  public 
and  private  schools,  normal  schools,  universities,  colleges, 
Y.W.C.A.,  and  playgrounds;  and  exerting  personal  influence 
toward  establishing  permanent  interests  and  habits  in  the 
above  directions. 


THE  FIELD  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION      387 

Preparation 

At  least  two  years  of  special  preparation  at  a  reputable  normal 

school  of  physical  education  such  as: 

Boston  School  of  Physical  Education,  Boston. 

Central  School  of  Physical  Education  and  Hygiene,  New 
York. 

Sargent  School  of  Physical  Education,  Cambridge. 

University  of  California. 

University  of  Wisconsin. 

The  Department  of  Hygiene,  Wellesley  College,  gives  a  post- 
graduate course  of  two  years.  Beginning  September,  1920, 
advanced  courses  are  offered  for  the  M.A.  degree.  Prepaiv 
atory  courses  include:  physics,  inorganic  chemistry  (organic, 
too,  would  be  a  great  advantage),  general  biology,  compara- 
tive anatomy,  physiology,  general  and  educational  psychol- 
ogy, history,  and  principles  of  education.  Voice  training, 
public  speaking,  the  theory  of  music  and  proficiency  in  play- 
ing some  musical  instrument  are  also  advantages. 

Financial  return 

Salaries  of  $1000  to  $4500  or  more. 

Qualifications 

Moral  and  intellectual  integrity;  initiative;  a  wholesome, 
energetic,  buoyant  personality;  enthusiasm,  sympathy,  teach- 
ing aptitude. 

Proficiency  in  the  various  phases  of  the  work  and  skill  in 
organizing,  directing,  and  teaching  all  or  a  majority  of  them. 

Advantages 

Exceptional  opportunities  for  contacts,  for  reaching  people, 

for  exerting  personal  influence  in  most  vital  ways. 

On  the  teacher  the  work  should  react  most  favorably.  It 
should  develop  her  personality  by  giving  scope  for  the  exer- 
cise of  all  her  powers  of  body,  mind,  and  spirit,  by  giving  the 
satisfaction  of  adequate  self-expression  in  the  leadership  of 


S88  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

worth-while  things.  If  she  lives  up  to  her  own  teaching  the 
work  should  insure  robust  health  and  abundant  vitahty. 

Disadvantages 

Work  may  sometimes  be  too  arduous,  but  not  more  so  than 
'  may  be  true  in  any  field.  Essentially  it  is  healthy  work,  often 
partly  outdoors. 

Extent  or  scope  of  work 

At  present  the  demand  for  well-trained  teachers  is  far  in  excess 
of  supply.  In  the  immediate  future  this  will  probably  be  in- 
creasingly true.  New  fields  are  opening  up;  e.g.  industrial  and 
commercial  organizations,  municipal  and  club  enterprises, 
State  and  Federal  direction  and  supervision. 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Teaching  of  Hygiene  in  the  Grades"  —  J.  M.  Andress. 
Boston,  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1918. 

"How  to  Live  on  Twenty-Four  Hours  a  Day"  —  Arnold 
Bennett.  New  York,  Greo.  H.  Doran  Company. 

"The  Human  Machine "  —  Arnold  Bennett.  New  York,  Geo. 
H.  Doran  Company,  1911. 

"How  to  Live;  Rules  for  Healthful  Living  Based  on  Modem 
Science  "  —  Irving  Fisher  and  E.  L.  Fisk.  Authorized 
by  and  prepared  in  collaboration  with  the  Hygiene 
Reference  Board  of  the  Life  Extension  Institute.  New 
York,  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Company,  1919.  15th  ed. 
completely  revised,  enlarged  and  reset. 

"The  Efficient  Life  "  —  L.  H.  Gulick.  New  York,  Doubleday, 
Page  &  Co.,  1907. 

"Physical  Education  by  Muscular  Exercise"  —  L.  H.  GuHck. 
Philadelphia,  P.  Blakiston*s  Son  &  Co.,  1904. 

"Adolescence,  Its  Psychology  and  its  Relation  to  Physiology, 
Anthropology,  Sociology,  Sex,  Crime,  Religion,  and  Edu- 
cation" —  G.  S.  Hall.  New  York,  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
1904.  2  vols. 


DIRECTOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION      389 

"Play  in  Education'*  —  Joseph  Lee.  New  York,  The  Mac- 

millan  Company,  1915. 
"Exercise  in  Education  and  Medicine"  —  R.  T.  McKenzie. 

Philadelphia,  W.  B,  Saunders  Company,  1915.  2d  ed. 

Thoroughly  revised. 
"Educational  Hygiene,  from  the  Pre-School  Period  to  the 

University"  —  L.    W.    Rapeer.     New    York,    Charles 

Scribner's  Sons,  1915. 
"Education;  Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical"  —  Herbert 

Spencer.  London,  Williams  &  Norgate,  1890. 
"Growth  and  Education"  —  J.  M.  Tyler.  Boston,  Houghton 

Mifflm  Company,  1907. 
"  Health  and  Disease  "  —  Roger  Lee,  M.D.    Little,  Brown 

&  Co.,  Boston. 

THE  DIRECTOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION  IN 
PRIVATE  SCHOOLS 

HESTER  CHAPLIN 

Director  of  Physical  Education,  Bradford  Academy,  Bradford^  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

The  director  of  physical  education  in  the  private  school  of 
to-day  holds  a  most  interesting  position.  Whether  in  a 
boarding-school  or  a  day  school  the  day's  work  is  much  the 
same,  but  the  first  differs  greatly  from  the  second  in  the  matter 
of  personal  freedom  outside  of  teaching  hours.  In  the  boarding- 
school  the  position  usually  means  residence  in  the  school,  which 
naturally  brings  certain  definite  and  many  indefinite  respon- 
sibilities in  connection  with  the  school  life.  In  the  day  school 
the  working  hours  are  more  like  those  of  a  business  woman. 
The  actual  work  done  depends  on  the  equipment  in  the 
school.  In  any  case  it  is  varied,  including  instruction  in  games, 
athletics,  swimming,  fencing,  and  dancing;  management  of 
group  activities;  class  work  in  the  gymnasium  and  corrective 
work  with  individuals.   An  opportunity  for  exerting  an  in- 


390  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

fluence  toward  right  living  is  always  present  and  should  be 
the  aim  of  the  work. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  necessary  is  a  high-school  education  followed 

by  normal-school  training.    It  is  increasingly  important  to 

have  a  college  education  before  specializing  in  this  field.   A 

thorough  academic  education  gives  a  better  grasp  of  the  work 

and  stimulates  an  appreciation  of  its  relation  to  education  in 

general. 

Any  of  the  well-known  normal  schools  of  physical  educa- 
tion admit  high-school  graduates  to  the  course  which  covers 
two  or  more  years.  Wellesley  College  has  a  graduate  course 
admitting  graduates  of  colleges  of  high  standing.  This  course 
is  also  two  years  and,  beginning  1920,  will  count  toward  the 
A.M.  degree. 

In  anticipation  of  the  profession,  an  undergraduate  should 
take  courses  in  anatomy,  physiology,  psychology,  chemistry, 
physics,  pedagogy,  general  and  personal  hygiene.  It  is  nec- 
essary to  be  skillful  in  the  majority  of  the  phases  of  the  work 
in  the  gymnasium. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  comes  rapidly  if  one  has 
had  the  right  background  and  the  necessary  educational  quali- 
fications. One  may  start  as  assistant  and  soon  become  direc- 
tor, or  more  often  she  may  start  as  director  of  a  department 
or  as  head  of  a  particular  phase  of  the  work;  as,  for  example, 
a  specialist  in  swimming,  dancing,  or  corrective  work. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  vary  from  $1000  to  $3000. 

Quxdifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  for  success  are  good  health,  leadership, 
personal  magnetism,  and  a  wholesome,  buoyant  spirit.  Skill 
in  constructive  work,  group  management,  grasp  of  new  op- 


DIRECTOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION      391 

portunities,  ability  to  make  plans  and  to  carry  them  out,  per- 
sonal contacts  and  cooperation  with  other  departments,  are 
necessary  in  the  larger  positions.  Courage,  fairness,  straight- 
forwardness, originality,  and  resourcefulness  should  result 
from  the  direction  of  this  work. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  the  home  life  of  the  well-directed  board- 
ing-school in  these  days  of  complicated  living  conditions  are 
many.  Residence  includes  board  and  room,  all  laundry,  use 
of  telephone,  library,  equipment,  and  tickets  to  concerts, 
lectures,  and  musicals. 

The  contacts  with  intellectuals  are  stimulating.  Many  of 
the  good  schools  are  adopting  student  government  and  are 
employing  house-mothers  to  relieve  the  faculty  from  duties 
other  than  teaching.  There  is  time  for  study  and  for  the  par- 
ticipation in  the  social  and  the  outdoor  life  of  the  school. 

The  greatest  disadvantage  from  the  point  of  view  of  many 
is  the  confinement,  the  constant  living  with  a  large  group  for 
whose  activities  there  is  more  or  less  responsibility. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  day  school  presents  an  attractive 
position.  To  the  woman  who  has  her  own  home  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  school  there  are  many  obvious  advantages.  The  great- 
est disadvantage  to  the  stranger  is  the  problem  of  finding  the 
right  environment  for  living. 

In  either  type  of  school  the  long  vacations  give  opportunity 
for  study,  travel,  rest,  play,  or  for  work  along  entirely  differ- 
ent fines. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  supply  of  teachers  for  private  schools  is  less  than  the 
demand.  More  and  more  teachers  are  needed  in  public 
schools,  colleges,  universities,  industries,  hospitals.  State  and 
Federal  activities,  recreation  centers,  and  in  the  Y.W.C.A. 
This  general  demand  lessens  the  supply  available  for  the 
private  school. 


392  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Reading 

"Education"  —  Herbert  Spencer. 
"The  Human  Mechanism"  —  Sedgwick  and  Hough. 
"Education  Through  Play"  — -  Henry  S.  Curtis. 
"Personal  Hygiene"  —  Walter  S.  Pyle. 
"Exercise  in  Education  and  Medicine "  — Dr.  Robert  Tait 
McKenzie. 

The  "Physical  Education  Review"  and  other  periodicals 
on  education,  articles  in  "School  and  Society"  on  the  trend 
of  education  and  the  place  of  physical  education  in  the  general 
plan  of  education,  are  useful. 

General  suggestions 

Familiarity  with  the  courses  offered  at  the  different  normal 
schools  on  physical  education  and  hygiene.  Knowledge  of 
the  place  given  to  the  work  in  the  curricula  in  educational 
institutions.  Attendance  at  conventions  gives  professional 
contacts  and  is  helpful  in  many  ways. 


SUPERVISOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION  IN 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

ETHEL  PERREN 

Supervisor  of  Physical  Education,  Board  of  Education,  Detroit,  Michigan 

Description  of  occupation 

The  supervisor  of  physical  education  in  public  schools  has 
charge  of  the  health  education  in  the  schools  under  her  juris- 
diction. The  work  is  executive  and  she  must  see  that  the 
following  plan  is  carried  out  by  her  assistants: 

(a)  Health  habits. 

(b)  Sixty  minutes  of  daily  exercise  within  school  hours. 

I.  Setting-up  exercises. 
11.  Athletics. 
III.  Games. 


SUPERVISOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION     393 

IV.  Dancing. 
V.  Individual  (corrective)  exercises. 

(c)  Schedules  and  meets  for  after-school  activities. 

(d)  Supervision  of  twenty  bath  centers. 

(e)  Arrangement  of  the  use  of  school  buildings  by  all  out- 
side organizations. 

Preparation  necessary 

One  must  be  a  graduate  of  an  accredited  school  of  physical 

education.   The  length  of  training  varies  from  two  to  five 

years. 

Financial  return 

Salaries  range  from  $1800  to  $6000  annually. 

Qualifications  for  success 

One  must  have  a  wide  vision  of  possibilities,  executive  ability, 
vitality,  personality,  general  intelligence,  social  intelligence, 
professional  spirit,  professional  leadership,  adaptabiUty,  and 
technique  of  the  subject. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

One  is  given  opportunity  to  cope  with  every  type  of  man 
or  woman.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  time  required 
for  making  plans,  holding  meetings  and  attending  games, 
meets,  demonstrations,  etc. 

Demand  and  supply 

The  demand  is  on  the  increase  because  school  authorities  are 
recognizing  the  need  and  allowing  more  time  on  school  cur- 
ricula for  this  subject.  They  are  also  demanding  results  as 
shown  by  scientific  research  and  tests.  We  must  have  more 
people  with  a  wide  vision  and  who  have  had  general  training 
as  well  as  special.  We  must  get  away  from  the  old  idea  of 
giving  so  much  exercise  per  day  to  pupils  and  must  study  the 


394  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

needs  of  the  individual  and  be  a  controlling  force  in  his 
health  habits.  We  must  outgrow  the  old  plan  of  dictating, 
and  train  pupils  in  leadership  and  self-appraisal.  Together 
with  the  necessary  technical  training  we  must  keep  up  with 
advanced  teaching  methods  in  other  subjects  and  apply  them 
to  our  own. 


POLITICS 

POLITICS,  A  PROFESSION  FOR  WOMEN 

MARY  GARRETT  HAY 

Description  of  occupation 

Politics  is  the  administration  of  government.  As  a  profession 
politics  means  oflSce-holding,  or  working  for  the  election  of 
oflSce-holders.  Public  oflBcials,  elected  or  appointed,  engage 
in  the  widely  diverging  and  highly  specialized  departments 
of  judicial,  legislative,  and  executive  government  in  county, 
municipal,  state,  or  federal  forms. 

The  chief  national  offices  are  those  of  President,  ten  Cab- 
inet officers,  Chief  Justice,  eight  Associate  Justices,  Senators, 
and  Representatives.  Most  of  the  five  thousand  appointive 
offices  to  be  filled  within  departments  of  state  have  been 
taken  out  of  politics  into  civil  service.  In  the  State  are  the 
Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Con- 
troller, Treasurer,  Attorney-General,  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction.  There  are  state  boards,  such  as  that  of  the 
railroad  commissions,  and  special  state  commissions  such  as  in- 
dustrial boards.  In  the  judiciary  there  are  the  seven  judges  of 
the  State  Supreme  Court.  In  the  city  government,  the  Mayor 
and  the  Council  or  the  Commissioners  make  laws  and  admin- 
ister the  city's  affairs.  Towns  and  counties  have  their  officials. 

In  the  political  parties  are  the  campaign  directors,  the  or- 
ganizers, the  managers  of  headquarters,  the  speakers,  the 
managers  of  speakers,  and  other  workers.  Party  organiza- 
tions tend  to  become  permanent.  Duties  are  specialized  ac- 
cording to  the  policies  of  the  particular  campaign. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Law,  business,  and  practical  politics  in  a  small  way  have 

hitherto  furnished  a  general  training  for  important  offices. 


396  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Special  training  in  their  lines  is  needed  by  specialized  govern- 
ment experts.  No  university  offers  a  complete  theoretical  and 
practical  training  for  public  service.  Many  universities  offer 
detached  courses.  The  University  of  California  offers  a 
course  in  "Problems  of  the  State'*;  the  University  of  Ne- 
braska, "Practical  Legislation";  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota, "Economic  Conditions  in  American  Cities."  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  has  a  Public  Service  Division  through 
which  specific  vocations  are  prepared  for,  such  as  factory 
inspectors,  staff  members  in  bureaus  of  labor,  in  tax  com- 
missions, in  public  utilities  commissions,  in  census  bureaus, 
investigators  for  special  inquiries,  and  so  on.  One  year  of 
graduate  work  is  essential  here.  The  University  of  Texas 
offers  six  groups  of  courses.  The  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York  cooperates  with  the  city  administration.  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  is  organizing  an  Institute  of  Hygiene  and 
Public  Health  to  train  public  health  oiBScers.  Conditions  are 
constantly  changing.  Investigation  of  courses  offered  by 
universities  must  be  made  by  the  individual. 

Two  institutions  exist  solely  for  the  purpose  of  training 
men  and  women  for  office-holding.  The  Training  School  for 
Public  Service,  connected  with  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Re- 
search, New  York  City,  trains  directly  for  administration  of 
public  affairs  by  actual  work  in  New  York  City  and  by  the- 
oretical courses.  All  grades  of  applicants  are  received  and 
placed.  The  Institute  for  Public  Service,  New  York  City, 
also  trains  the  individual  through  direct  apprenticeship. 
These  are  pioneers  whose  example  is  even  now  being  followed. 

Law  will  continue  to  be  good  training  for  certain  fields. 
Schools  of  civics  and  philanthropy  offer  the  best  training  for 
municipal  politics,  which  is  becoming  more  and  more  social 
in  character.  In  a  small  way  the  schools  for  citizenship  now 
being  established  in  most  cities  by  the  suffrage  organizations 
are  invaluable  for  the  political  aspirant,  even  though  they  are 
primarily  for  the  voter. 

A  background  is  even  more  essential  than  special  training. 


POLITICS,  A  PROFESSION  FOR  WOMEN      397 

Courses  in  English,  modern  languages,  political  science,  his- 
tory, philosophy,  and  sociology  should  be  taken  by  the  under- 
graduate in  the  general  college  or  university.  All  things  can 
be  added  to  a  good  foundation. 

For  good  positions  in  the  political  parties  experience  is 
essential.  Women  occupying  prominent  positions  in  these  at 
present  are  women  who  were  trained  by  suffrage  campaigns. 
The  woman  who  wishes  training  must  get  it  through  a  vol- 
unteer apprenticeship  in  a  party  campaign,  beginning  perhaps 
with  the  local  conditions  in  her  own  community.  As  political 
parties  are  run  by  business  methods,  a  business  training  is  an 
entering  wedge. 

In  schools  and  field  work  alike  the  length  of  training 
varies  with  the  individual.  The  field  is  too  new  for  other  than 
experiment. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  limited  only  with  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States.  Women  can  go  as  far  as 
they  show  themselves  really  able.  The  field  of  politics  offers 
more  than  any  other  field  for  women  all  the  incentive  of  un- 
limited advancement  commensurate  with  individual  ability. 

Financial  returns 

For  women  the  financial  returns  are  decidedly  good.  Salaries 
of  public  oflBcials  have  an  enormous  range  from  the  Presi- 
dent's $75,000  and  traveling  allowance,  down  to  the  "dollar 
a  year  man."  They  are  readily  ascertainable.  Organizers  in 
parties  get  from  $50  to  $75  per  week  and  expenses. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

For  success,  ability  to  judge  and  handle  people  is  necessary 
for  all  administrative  positions;  in  political  parties,  sagacity, 
resourcefulness,  power  to  discern  the  true  from  the  false, 
common  sense,  imperturbability,  wide  experience  with  human 
nature;  for  specialized  public  service,  the  special  qualities 
going  with  the  work. 


398  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Advantages 

The  advantages  are  those  of  an  unploughed  jBeld.  The  subject- 
matter  is  enormously  important.  The  power  for  influence  is 
great;  for  instance,  in  the  moulding  of  party  policy  as  an  or- 
ganizer. The  work  is  highly  creative,  highly  dramatic.  It  is 
so  varied  as  to  offer  each  person  his  specialty.  It  affords  in- 
door and  outdoor,  regular  and  irregular  routine.  Politics  is 
an  unsurpassed  school  of  life  for  the  individual.  It  lacks  the 
stultifying  effect  attaching  to  most  occupations  for  women. 
Politics  for  women  means  a  life  of  real  vitality  and  worth. 

Disadvantages 

There  is  no  eight-hour  day.  Prejudice  and  ignorance  must 
be  fought  or  conciliated.  Personal  existence  and  perhaps  per- 
sonal happiness  must  be  sunk  in  public  good.  Many  illusions 
perish  violently. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  demand  is  greater  everywhere  than  the  supply.  The 
chance  in  state  and  municipal  politics  is  particularly  good, 
say  as  a  member  of  the  legislature. 

Suggested  reading 

"American  Commonwealth"  —  Bryce. 

"Political  History  of  the  State  of  New  York"  —  Thurlow 

Weed. 
"The  Education  of  Henry  Adams." 
"Contemporary  American  History"  —  Charles  Beard. 
"Your  Vote  and  How  to  Use  It"  —  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown. 
"The  Woman  Citizen"  —  Mary  Sumner  Boyd. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK 
GENERAL  SECRETARY  OF  A  CITY  ASSOCL^TION 

IRENE  HEADLEY  ARMES 

General  Secretary,  Y.W.C.A.,  Brockton,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

The  position  of  general  secretary  in  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  offers  a  rare  opportunity  for  commu- 
nity leadership.  The  scope  of  her  work  is  unlimited. 

The  general  secretary  is  the  executive  of  the  Association 
itself  and  becomes  an  ex-officio  member  of  the  board  of  di- 
rectors and  sits  on  all  day  committee  meetings  pertaining  to 
the  Association  when  necessary.  Through  her  guidance  the 
secretaries  of  the  various  departments  are  chosen,  and  under 
her  leadership  the  work  of  the  whole  Association  is  promoted. 
She  becomes  a  leader  of  the  staff  and  the  leader  in  the  board 
and  the  leader  among  programmes  for  girls  in  the  city. 

The  first  task  of  the  general  secretary  is  to  so  direct  and 
plan  the  work  of  the  Y.W.C.A.  that  it  shall  be  recognized  as 
an  indispensable  organization  for  women  and  girls  in  com- 
munity life.  The  general  secretary  becomes  identified,  either 
by  influence  or  membership  on  committees,  with  every  com- 
munity organization  of  any  account  in  the  city. 

Associated  with  the  general  secretary  is  a  staff  of  workers, 
many  of  whom  are  executives,  such  as  executive  of  the 
physical  education  department,  the  head  of  the  industrial  de- 
partment of  work  for  foreign-bom  women,  religious  education 
department,  girls'  work,  and  the  resident  executive  business 
secretary. 

The  position  of  general  secretary  brings  a  big  challenge  to 
the  student  body  of  America  to-day.  With  the  women  of  the 
United  States  mobilizing  in  industry  and  business  and  pro- 


400  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

fessional  work.  Christian  leadership  in  a  community  is  a  vital 
necessity. 

The  heads  of  various  departments  have  people  associated 
with  them,  but  the  general  secretary  holds  the  position  of 
leader  and  executive  head. 

Preparation  necessary 

College  education  is  invaluable,  followed  by  a  few  years  — 
two  or  three  —  of  practical  training  in  departmental  work  in 
an  up-to-date  local  Association,  this  to  be  followed  with  one 
year  at  the  National  Training  School,  135  East  52d  Street, 
New  York  City.  Training  centers  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  and  summer  school  work  at  the  National  Training 
School  are  also  provided.  For  the  post-graduate  work  at  the 
Training  School  in  New  York,  students  are  advised  to  take 
the  following  studies  while  in  college :  Psychology,  pedagogy, 
and  any  other  courses  which  concern  the  social  problems  of 
the  day.  Courses  in  Bible  are  also  recommended.  No  grad- 
uate is  admitted  to  the  National  Training  School  at  New 
York  without  a  certain  number  of  years  of  practical  work  in  a 
city  Association. 

Opportunity  for  advancement  and  financial  return 
The  opportunity  for  advancement  in  the  position  of  general 
secretary  depends  largely  on  the  type  of  work  accomplished. 
City  Associations  offer  anywhere  from  $1500  to  $4000,  de- 
pending on  the  size  of  the  city  and  the  cahber  of  the  work 
done  in  the  community. 

Demand  and  qualifications 

The  demand  for  general  secretaries  is  great.  There  are  many 
vacancies  at  present  in  city  Associations.  The  qualifications 
necessary  for  a  successful  general  secretary  are  as  follows: 
creative  ability,  leadership  of  the  nature  which  brings  out 
people  and  their  ideas  and  thought;  ability  to  organize,  an 
understanding  of  people,  faith  in  people  and  their  motives. 


THE  MISSIONARY  401 

tolerance,  vision,  enthusiasm.  Christian  ideals,  knowledge  of 
business  management,  recognition  of  leadership  in  others, 
fairness  in  judgment. 

The  position  of  general  secretary  or  any  secretary  in  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  is  often  thought  to  be 
too  hard  and  to  offer  too  long  hours  and  to  be  too  confining. 
These  comments  are  in  a  measure  true.  The  work,  because  of 
its  contact  with  people,  compels  one's  interest,  and  the  temp- 
tation is  to  give  more  time  than  one  has  the  right  to  give.  It 
rests  in  the  hands  of  the  general  secretary  to  regulate  the 
work  and  so  adjust  her  hours  and  way  of  living  that  this  may 
not  be  true. 

Reading 

Reading  material  for  any  one  thinking  of  going  into  Associ- 
ation work  may  be  secured  from  the  Woman's  Book  Shop, 
600  Lexington  Avenue,  New  York  City.  Catalogues  and 
advice  concerning  reading  material  may  be  obtained  from 
the  National  Training  School,  135  East  52d  Street,  New  York 
City. 

THE  MISSIONARY 
MRS.  HENRY  K.  WINGATE 

Description  of  occupation 

Women  have  played  a  large  part  in  the  work  of  missions, 
throwing  themselves  into  it  with  ardor  and  devoting  them- 
selves to  the  task  of  elevating  the  women  of  less  enlightened 
lands.  They  are  engaged  in  a  variety  of  forms  of  service, 
such  as  direct  evangelization,  i.e.,  giving  Bible  instruction  in 
towns  and  villages;  conducting  schools  in  which  native  girls 
are  educated  and  trained  to  become  Christian  workers;  as 
teachers  of  special  subjects,  such  as  science,  mathematics, 
domestic  science,  or  music;  as  medical  missionaries,  having 
— charge  of  hospitals;  as  nurses  or  in  charge  of  orphanages. 
Very  frequently  one  woman  fills  a  number  of  these  positions 


402  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

like  the  principal  of  the  Foochow  Girls'  College,  who  has  had 
to  perform  all  the  duties  of  matron,  dean,  treasurer,  registrar, 
and  secretary  in  addition  to  superintending  a  day  school. 

Preparation  necessary 

It  is  thus  evident  that  for  the  performance  of  such  multitu- 
dinous duties  a  broad  foundation  of  education  is  necessary.  As 
one  writer  has  stated,  "The  missionary  must  be  consecrated 
to  Christ  and  capable  of  meeting  every  demand,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual,  of  the  people  to  whom  she  is  sent." 

It  is  desirable  that  a  young  woman  going  as  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary be  a  college,  imiversity,  or  normal-school  graduate. 
The  classical  course  is  best  calculated  to  prepare  her  for  the 
mastery  of  a  foreign  language,  without  which  no  successful 
work  can  be  done.  Oberlin,  Mount  Holyoke,  Wellesley,  and 
Carleton  Colleges  are  well  represented  on  the  mission  field. 

In  addition  to  the  college  course,  special  training  in  a  Bible 
school  or  theological  seminary  is  desirable.  This  may  be  ob- 
tained in  a  number  of  institutions  among  which  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 

The  Baptist  Missionary  Training  School,  Chicago,  111., 
two  or  three  years. 

Kansas  City  Baptist  Women's  Missionary  Training  School, 
two  years. 

Baptist  Women's  Missionary  Union  Training  School, 
Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Bethany  Bible  School,  Chicago,  Illinois,  four  years. 

College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  forty-five 
courses. 

Chicago  Training  School,  4949  Indiana  Avenue,  two  years. 

The  Kennedy  School  of  Missions,  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
over  fifty  courses. 

National  Training  School,  Y.W.C.A.,  New  York  City,  one 
year. 

Gordon  Bible  College,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  two,  three, 
and  four  years. 


THE  MISSIONARY  403 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  spiritual  rather  than 

material.  There  is  neither  least  nor  greatest  in  the  missionary 

sisterhood. 

Financial  return 

A  missionary's  salary  varies  according  to  locality,  but  is  sup- 
posed to  be  sufficient  for  a  simple  scheme  of  existence,  and 
with  economy  will  allow  the  laying-up  of  a  few  treasures  on 
earth.  A  tithe  for  the  Lord  and  a  tithe  for  a  rainy  day  leaves 
one  with  sufficient  still  for  food,  clothing,  and  a  magazine! 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  most  important  qualifications  for  a  missionary  are  the 
following:  love  of  Christ,  love  for  souls,  sympathy,  tact,  gen- 
tleness, humility,  patience,  good  health,  linguistic  ability, 
cheerfulness,  and  common  sense.  To  these  may  be  added  an 
understanding  of  the  people,  familiarity  with  their  beliefs  and 
their  literature;  ability  to  reason  and  to  defend  the  Christian 
faith. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Life  in  a  mission  station  is  a  goodly  fellowship,  and  warm  and 
lasting  friendships  are  made  with  one's  associates  and  with  the 
people  of  the  land  who  repay  the  outlay  with  a  wealth  of  af- 
fection. Far  from  home,  but  with  spiritual  kindred,  the  life 
on  the  foreign  field  grows  inexpressibly  precious.  Furloughs 
give  opportunity  for  travel  and  shorter  vacations  can  be 
taken,  although  the  temptation,  in  view  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  work,  is  to  neglect  one's  health.  The  older  missionaries 
give  wise  counsel  in  that  regard. 

Supply  and  demand 

There  are  more  than  a  score  of  Women's  Boards  of  Missions 
of  all  denominations,  the  Methodist  and  the  Presbyterian 
having  the  largest  work.  Those  of  the  Congregationalists  sup- 


404  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

port  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  women  on  the  foreign  field, 
sixty  boarding-schools,  three  colleges,  four  hospitals,  besides 
numerous  kindergartens  and  day-schools,  at  an  expenditure 
of  half  a  million  dollars.  What  other  enterprise  can  show  such 
splendid  results  with  such  a  small  outlay?  The  other  mission- 
ary boards  can  claim  equal  distinction. 

Reading 

Some  of  the  books  on  the  subject  of  the  preparation  for  mis- 
sionary work  are  the  following: 
"The  Training  of  Teachers."  Report  of  Commission  V.  Re- 

vell  Company. 
The  Fifth  Report  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation. 

Edited  by  Frank  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 
"The  Call,  Qualifications  and  Preparation  of  Candidates  for 
Foreign  Missionary    Service."     (Student    Volunteer.)    3 

West  29th  Street,  New  York  City. 
**A  Manual  for  Young  Missionaries"  —  Arthur  H.  Smith, 

Shanghai,  China. 
"Our  World-Wide  Work."    (Woman's  Board  of  Missions.) 

Congregational  House,  14  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 

THE  Y.W.C.A.  WORKER 

ABIGAH.  T.  HAWKES 

Cidtivation  Secretary,  Personnel  Bureau,  Y.W.C.A.,  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  believes  that  the 
foundation  for  a  wholesome,  normal  spiritual  life  is  a  whole- 
some, normal  physical  life.  Hence  it  concerns  itself  with  the 
problems  of  food,  housing,  employment,  industrial  relations, 
friendship,  exercise  and  recreation  that  confront  the  average 
girl  in  the  city,  town,  college,  or  rural  community,  as  well  as 
with  her  problems  in  Christian  thinking  and  living.  The  em- 
ployed officers,  who  direct  and  administer  the  programme  of 


THE  Y.W.C.A.  WORKER  405 

the  Association,  are  known  as  "secretaries,"  or,  when  they 
are  at  the  head  of  a  technical  department,  as  "directors'*  — 
general  secretary,  industrial  secretary,  girls*  work  secretary, 
gymnasium  director,  cafeteria  director,  etc. 

To  fill  these  secretarial  positions  the  Y.W.C.A.  turns,  as  a 
rule,  to  the  young  college  women  of  the  country  and  for  its 
technical  directors  to  the  graduates  of  recognized  schools 
of  physical  education,  household  economics,  etc.  It  is  not 
enough,  however,  that  the  candidate  be  an  efficient  and  well- 
educated  and  experienced  worker.  She  must  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  aspirations  of  the  organization,  have  a  knowledge  of 
its  history  and  understand  its  significance  and  methods.  A 
system  of  training  has  been  devised,  therefore,  designed  to 
meet  the  needs  of  different  types  of  candidates. 

Preparation  necessary 
I.  Preliminary  Training 

A.  Extension  Courses 

For  persons  without  experience. 

Four  weeks  of  lectures  and  practical  work. 

B.  Summer  Session  of  the  Training  School 

For  persons  of  executive  experience  gained  in 
work  other  than  that  of  the  Y.W.C.A.,  and  for 
those  already  in  the  movement  who  are  desirous  of 
changing  their  type  of  work,  or  of  bringing  their 
technique  up  to  date. 

Six  weeks*  intensive  training  —  lectures  (and 
demonstrations) . 

The  certificate  for  the  course  is  not  granted  until 
the  student  has  completed  nine  months  of  success- 
ful employed  service  in  an  Association  position. 

II,  Advanced  Training 

A.  National  Training  School 

For  Association  secretaries  whose  record  and 
ability  warrant  their  being  prepared  for  positions 


406  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

of  greater  responsibility;  for  mature  women  of 
recognized  ability  who  are  desirous  of  entering 
the  Association  movement  as  directors  of  reli- 
gious education;  secretaries  of  city,  town,  and 
country  Associations;  leaders  in  International 
Institutes;  student  secretaries;  industrial  secre- 
taries or  secretaries  for  foreign  fields. 

It  is  desirable  that  college  students  who  plan  to  enter  Asso- 
ciation work  should  select  their  courses  and  choose  their  elec- 
tives  with  this  in  view.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  English,  the 
ability  to  use  the  language  with  clearness  and  facility  in  speak- 
ing and  writing,  is  always  essential.  Excellent  training  may 
be  had  in  college  debating  societies  or  in  discussion  clubs  or 
classes.  Every  Association  secretary  should  have  a  founda- 
tion knowledge  of  history,  economics,  sociology,  and  indus- 
trial problems.  All  the  work  in  athletics  that  she  can  have,  in 
games  and  recreation,  is  desirable.  A  course  in  practical  psy- 
chology and  a  good  course  in  Bible  study  are  helpful.  Some 
volunteer  experience  during  summer  vacations  in  welfare 
work,  as  councillor  at  a  girls'  camp,  or  as  leader  of  a  girls'  club 
is  of  great  value. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  limitations  for  growth  and  development  in  Association 
work  are  the  limitations  only  of  capacity  on  the  part  of  candi- 
dates. There  are  always  new  fields.  The  young  secretary  just 
out  of  college  might  take  an  extension  course,  or  possibly  come 
to  the  summer  school  if  she  has  had  some  volunteer  experience 
in  social  work.  She  would  probably  fit  herself  to  begin  as  a 
leader  in  club  work,  having  contact  with  girls  in  school  or 
young  employed  girls,  and  looking  forward,  perhaps,  after 
experience  and  further  training,  to  becoming  a  field  work 
executive  and  administrator,  with  a  staff  of  volunteer  work- 
ers, carrying  some  financial  responsibility  and  cooperating  in 
the  community  life.    When  a  secretary  has  developed  the 


THE  Y.W.C.A.  WORKER  407 

work  which  she  can  do  in  one  town  or  city  to  the  furthest 
point  that  can  be  reached  under  her  leadership,  she  may  always 
go  to  another  city.  When  ideas  for  work  with  younger  girls 
cease  to  come  to  her,  she  may  take  a  course  at  the  summer 
school  as  a  bridge  for  the  transition  from  girls'  work  to  a 
town  or  country  secretaryship,  and  after  a  few  years  may 
come  to  the  National  Training  School  for  preparation  for  posi- 
tions of  greater  responsibility  or  a  general  secretaryship  or 
field  worker.  Publicity  does  not  play  a  large  part  in  the 
Association.  A  secretary  may  do  successful  and  progres- 
sive work,  her  name  may  stand  for  much  that  is  significant 
and  worth  while  in  her  community;  she  may  become  well 
known  in  Association  work,  but  she  will  not  often  be  prom- 
inently known  to  the  public.  Her  distinction  comes  through 
what  she  has  been  able  to  accomplish  in  her  group.  The  per- 
son who  does  not  succeed  in  this  work  is  the  woman  who  can- 
not subordinate  the  expression  of  her  own  individuahty  in 
order  to  express  the  purpose  of  the  movement;  those  who  are 
most  outstanding  in  Association  work  are  those  who  have 
most  lost  themselves  in  it. 

Financial  return 

The  Association  cannot  compete  with  the  returns  ofiFered  in 
the  commercial  world.  Like  all  social  work,  it  is  largely  de- 
pendent upon  the  public  for  its  resources.  It  will  never  be 
able  to  give  the  financial  return  of  the  great  business  which  is 
a  money-making  concern  and  able  to  turn  back  a  consider- 
able part  of  its  proceeds  in  the  form  of  salaries.  Association 
salaries  average  from  $1200  to  $1600,  varying  according  to 
the  type  of  work  done,  the  section  of  the  country  in  which  the 
secretary  is  placed,  and  the  quality  of  experience  which  she 
has  had.  Some  salaries  run  from  $1800  to  $2000,  and  occa- 
sionally for  experienced  workers,  as  high  as  $3000  or  $3500, 
but  these  positions  are  not  numerous. 

A  retiring  fund  or  system  of  pensions  for  secretaries  with- 
drawing from  active  work  because  of  age  or  illness  is  being 


408  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

established.  Salaries  compare  fairly  with  those  offered  by 
similar  organizations  for  work  approximately  equal  in  de- 
mand, and  there  is  a  tendency  for  them  to  increase  somewhat, 
but  the  Association  is  not  the  field  for  the  woman  to  whom 
salary  is  the  main  consideration. 

Qualifications  desirable 

To  be  successful,  an  Association  secretary  must  have  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  make  her  life  and  influence  of  use;  to  live  essen- 
tially as  one  who  serves.  She  must  have  a  genuine  liking  for 
people  and  interest  in  them;  a  sympathetic  understanding  of 
different  viewpoints  and  ability  to  keep  her  own  counsel.  If 
she  has  some  musical  gift  it  will  be  an  assistance  to  her.  It 
need  not  be  a  very  big  gift,  but  the  ability  to  sing  a  little,  to 
play  an  accompaniment  for  dancing  or  singing  or  exercise,  is 
most  useful.  Good  health  and  a  love  of  out-of-doors,  of  games 
and  sports  and  athletics,  help.  Good  taste  and  charm  of  dress 
and  manner  are  of  value  in  her  work,  and  the  stronger,  simpler, 
more  all-pervading  and  abundant  her  spiritual  life,  the  more 
she  can  help  others  to  realize  their  own. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Like  most  work  which  makes  large  demands  upon  qualifica- 
tions of  character  and  spirit,  the  Association  offers  rich  reward 
in  experience  and  the  opportunity  to  develop  to  a  high  degree 
latent  powers.  The  secretary  meets  and  knows  many  kinds  of 
people.  How  many  and  how  well  depends  largely  upon  her- 
self, for  she  may  serve  as  a  mediator  and  interpreter  between 
different  ages  or  classes  or  nationahties.  Many  an  unveiled 
human  problem  is  presented  to  her,  and  in  assistance  given 
toward  its  solution  her  sympathy  widens  and  her  understand- 
ing deepens.  She  may  become  to  an  unusual  degree  an  all- 
round  woman. 

There  are  disadvantages  connected  with  the  Association. 
An  attempt  is  being  made  to  standardize  the  hours  of  serv- 
ice that  a  secretary  gives.    In  many  Associations  an  eight- 


THE  Y.W.C.A.  WORKER  409 

hour  day  is  already  in  effect,  but  the  movement  has  not  be- 
come established  as  yet,  and  there  are  still  Association  secre- 
taries who  spend  long  days  and  whose  leisure  time  is  sometimes 
interrupted  by  demands  that  cannot  well  be  set  aside.  In 
most  Associations,  however,  the  secretary  is  assured  of  one 
free  day  in  the  week  and  a  full  month's  vacation. 

Extent  of  occupation 

In  1914  the  number  of  local  Associations  in  this  country  was 
979  and  1663  secretaries  and  assistants  were  employed.  In 
April,  1920,  there  were  1180  Associations  and  3172  employed 
officers.  The  expansion  that  has  taken  place  in  the  last  five 
years  represents  an  emergency  growth.  It  will  not  —  it  is  not 
desirable  that  it  should  —  continue  in  this  degree,  but  estab- 
lished work  should  be  maintained  and  normal  development 
expected.  New  secretaries  are  needed  each  year  to  meet  this 
growth  and  to  fill  vacancies  created  by  the  resignation  of 
secretaries  who  are  claimed  by  home  duties  and  marriage. 

Reading 

"History  of  the  Christian  Church"  —  Walker. 

"Industrial  History"  —  Cheney. 

"Religious  Forces  of  the  United  States"  —  Carroll. 

"Social  Creed  of  the  Churches"  —  Ward. 

"Moral  and  Religious  Challenge  of  Our  Times"  —  King. 

"Girlhood  and  Character"  —  Mary  Moxcey. 

"Young  Working  Girls"  —  Woods  and  Kennedy. 

"Fatigue  and  Efficiency"  —  Josephine  Goldmark. 

"The  Science  of  Power"  —  Kidd. 

"A  Theology  for  a  Social  Gospel"  —  Rauschenbusch. 

The  following  periodicals:  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  "Independ- 
ent," "Literary  Digest,"  "Life  and  Labor,"  "Nation," 
"New  Republic,"  "Outlook,"  "Survey,"  "Manchester 
Guardian"  (weekly). 


SCIENTIFIC  WORK 
THE  BACTERIOLOGIST 

MAEION  SLATER  STONE,  Ph.B. 

In  Dr.  James  Alexander  Miller  s  private  clinical  and  X-ray  laboratory.  New 
York  City,  and  Bacteriologist  and  Clinical  Pathologist  for  the  Tuberculosis 
Division  of  Bellevue  Hospital^  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  a  bacteriologist  varies  greatly  and  at  present  is 
confined  largely  to  laboratories  in  hospitals  and  health  de- 
partments. The  work  in  these  institutions  consists  mainly 
in  diagnostic  and  therapeutic  analyses  and  milk  and  water 
analyses.  Some  of  the  diagnostic  work  is  the  examination  of 
sputum  to  detect  the  presence  of  the  tuberculosis  bacillus, 
of  throat  cultures  for  the  diphtheria  organism,  and  feces  for 
the  typhoid  bacillus.  It  is  necessary  first  to  show  the  presence 
of  these  organisms,  then  to  give  the  proper  treatment.  In 
the  therapeutic  work  the  bacteriologist  is  of  assistance  in 
preparing  vaccines  and  antitoxins.  Some  of  these  thera- 
peutic products  are  procured  from  commercial  houses,  while 
others  are  made  in  the  same  laboratory  in  which  the  analyses 
have  been  made.  Another  branch  of  this  work  is  the  testing 
for  the  virulence  of  an  organism.  The  work  on  water  is  im- 
portant to  detect  the  presence  of  typhoid  bacillus  and  colon 
bacillus,  while  the  most  important  part  of  milk  analysis  is  the 
counting  of  bacteria.  If  too  many  bacteria  are  present,  it  is 
assumed  that  suflScient  care  has  not  been  taken  in  handling 
the  product. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

As  in  all  work  that  requires  careful  thought,  the  more  thor- 
ough the  preparation  the  better  the  result,  and  the  more  in- 


THE  BACTERIOLOGIST  411 

telligent  the  understanding  of  the  examinations.  A  reading 
knowledge  of  French  and  German  is  a  help  in  several  ways, 
from  the  minor  advantage  of  knowing  that  "sauer"  means 
acid  to  the  ability  to  read  articles  as  they  appear  in  the  liter- 
ature. If  one  has  studied  physics,  she  has  the  knowledge  of 
the  physical  laws  of  the  substances  in  which  she  is  most  inter- 
ested. The  chemistry  courses  necessary  are  inorganic,  quali- 
tative and  quantitative  analyses,  organic  and  physiological 
chemistry.  Physiological  chemistry  is  not  as  essential  for  a. 
bacteriologist  as  for  a  clinical  pathologist,  but  is  valuable  if 
one  wishes  work  in  a  hospital  where  clinical  work,  such  as 
blood  chemistry  and  urinalysis,  is  frequently  combined  with 
the  work  of  the  bacteriologist.  One  year  of  bacteriology 
is  the  minimum  and  more  is  preferable.  A  year  of  general  bi- 
ology should  be  added  to  this  schedule  of  study.  Most  of  the 
universities  of  good  standing  have  courses  in  these  studies 
requisite  for  a  bacteriologist.  Some  of  the  schools  giving 
good  courses  for  this  work  are  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  Columbia  University,  Brown  University,  and 
Simmons  College.  The  medical  schools,  such  as  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Columbia  University,  have  special 
courses  that  non-medical  students  may  take.  After  the  bache- 
lor 's  degree  has  been  obtained,  it  is  best  to  try  for  a  position 
in  a  hospital  or  health  department  where  the  routine  work  can 
be  mastered.  It  takes  several  years  of  hospital  work  to  be- 
come fully  familiar  with  this  field. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  in  this  line  depends  both 
on  the  individual  and  the  institution.  In  starting  one  is  for- 
tunate if  she  receives  as  laboratory  assistant  one  hundred 
dollars  a  month  or  its  equivalent  in  board,  room,  and  laundry. 
City  and  state  health  departments  are  very  reluctant  to  in- 
crease the  salary.  Their  appropriation  is  not  usually  very 
large,  a  laboratory  being  regarded  almost  as  a  luxury  rather 
than  as  a  necessity  by  those  arranging  the  budget.   The 


412  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

weapon  frequently  used  to  obtain  a  raise  is  the  prospect  of 
another  position  paying  a  better  salary.  To  this  report  the 
superintendent  either  replies  that  he  will  gladly  raise  the 
salary  a  few  dollars,  or,  if  he  is  desirous  of  gracefully  ridding 
himself  of  the  bacteriologist,  advises  her  not  to  miss  such  an 
opportunity.  She  may  receive  $2000  a  year,  or,  in  rare  in- 
stances, $3000. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

If  she  is  to  make  a  success  as  a  bacteriologist,  it  is  necessary 
that  she  should  be  observant  and  able  to  make  decisions 
quickly  and  accurately.  Originality  is  a  great  asset  if  she  de- 
sires to  do  research  work. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  in  this  work  are  the  aptitude  women  seem  to 
possess  for  such  occupation,  the  pleasant  surroundings  and 
the  opportunities  of  meeting  people  who  have  made  names 
for  themselves  in  this  profession.  When  she  has  become 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  work,  a  private  laboratory  is 
pleasant.  It  is  often  well  to  spend  part  of  the  time  in  a  private 
laboratory  and  the  other  part  in  a  hospital.  If  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  bacteriology  is  added  that  of  blood  chemistry,  seri- 
ology,  and  X-ray,  the  work  is  broader  and  less  monotonous. 
This  is  the  work  of  a  chnical  pathologist. 

One  of  the  disadvantages  of  a  hospital  to  a  college  graduate 
is  its  mihtary  system.  The  authorities  have  not  quite  been 
able  to  decide  the  social  standing  of  a  bacteriologist.  They 
do  not  know  whether  to  rank  her  with  a  doctor,  who  has  his 
technical  degree,  but  frequently  has  not  his  academic  degree, 
or  to  rank  her  with  other  female  employees  who  are  fortunate 
if  they  have  a  high-school  diploma.  A  second  disadvantage 
is  the  lack  of  opportunity  to  meet  people  in  other  lines  of  work. 
Still  another  is  the  necessity  for  working  until  all  hours  of  the 
night  if  a  special  experiment  or  case  is  to  be  reported  im- 
mediately. Some  institutions  require  Sunday  morning  work. 


THE  GEOLOGIST  413 

but  the  average  position  permits  regular  hours,  usually  from 
nine  to  five,  free  Sundays  and  a  half -holiday  once  a  week. 

Extent  of  occupation 

More  and  more  women  are  taking  up  bacteriology.  In  one 
way  this  makes  it  more  difficult  to  find  a  position,  but  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  the  very  reason  for  the  creation  of  more  op- 
portunities. If  one  has  the  qualifications  for  this  occupation, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  find  an  opening.  The  medical  journals 
are  continually  announcing  vacancies  to  be  filled.  The  West 
is  said  to  pay  the  highest  salaries,  but  the  largest  cities  offer 
the  most  opportunities.  At  one  time  hospitals  and  health 
departments  were  the  chief  employers  of  bacteriologists,  but 
now  physicians  are  seeing  the  advantages  of  having  a  bac- 
teriologist for  their  private  laboratories.  Many  institutions 
such  as  banks  and  insurance  companies  have  a  well-paid 
bacteriologist  on  the  staff. 

Reading 

"Pathological  Technique"  —  Mallory  and  Wright. 

"Pathological  Microorganisms"  —  Park  and  Williams  and 

Krumweide. 
"Laboratory  Technique"  —  St.  Luke's  Hospital. 
Monographs  on  various  subjects  —  Rockefeller  Institute  for 

Medical  Research. 
Articles  in  various  medical  and  bacteriological  journals. 


THE  GEOLOGIST 

ELEANOIU  F.  BLISS 

United  States  Geological  Survey 

Description  of  occupation 

The  geologist  is  a  person  who  studies  the  constitution  and 
structure  of  the  earth.  He  observes  the  physical  forces  that  are 
operating  to  produce  the  earth  as  we  now  know  it,  and  from 


414  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

these  observations  he  draws  conclusions  as  to  the  history  of 
the  earth's  development  in  the  past  and  makes  certain  pre- 
dictions as  to  the  probable  course  of  its  development  in  the 
future. 

The  laboratory  of  the  geologist  is  in  the  field,  and  the  study 
of  rocks  and  of  the  physical  forces  that  operate  in  the  forma- 
tion and  destruction  of  rocks  is  best  carried  on  by  actual  ob- 
servation. A  geologist  in  order  to  be  thoroughly  competent 
must  spend  part  of  each  year  in  the  field.  The  rest  of  the  time 
is  spent  indoors  working  upon  the  materials  that  have  been 
collected  in  the  field.  Fossils  are  studied  in  order  to  determine 
their  diagnostic  value,  thin  sections  of  rocks  are  prepared  and 
examined  under  the  microscope  in  order  to  identify  types; 
new  minerals  are  described;  identifications  of  previously 
known  minerals  are  confirmed;  chemical  analyses  are  made 
and  reports  written  during  the  indoor  oflSce  season. 

The  working-up  of  field  material  requires  a  considerable 
degree  of  specialization,  since  many  different  phases  of  geol- 
ogy may  be  developed  in  one  particular  region.  There  is 
office  work  for  the  geologist  who  does  not  wish  to  go  into 
the  field,  and  prefers  to  work  over  the  material  collected  by 
others.  The  paleontologist  will  identify  and  describe  fossil 
collections  sent  in  from  the  field  and  can  prepare  from  these 
collections  comprehensive  reports  on  the  fauna  of  a  certain 
region.  Paleontology  is  a  particularly  good  field  for  office 
work  and  several  women  have  already  made  notable  success 
in  this  line  of  work.  The  study  of  microscopic  sections  of 
rocks  and  determination  of  rock  types  can  be  made  in  the 
office,  though  such  study  is  a  poor  basis  for  generalization  on- 
the  geology  of  a  given  region  unless  accompanied  by  observa- 
tions of  the  field  relations  of  the  rocks.  The  making  of  chem- 
ical analyses  of  rocks  and  minerals  and  of  water  analyses  is 
perhaps  the  best  field  for  purely  office  work  in  geology.  In 
general,  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  stressed  that  for  the  devel- 
opment of  a  successful  and  all-round  career  in  geology  both 
field  work  and  office  work  are  absolutely  essential. 


THE  GEOLOGIST  415 

The  life  of  a  field  geologist  is  arduous  and  requires,  in  addi- 
tion to  an  impelling  enthusiasm  for  the  subject,  a  physical 
strength  and  energy  and  an  ability  to  endure  hardships  of  a 
certain  sort  which  comparatively  few  women  as  yet  possess. 
It  has  many  drawbacks  at  present  as  a  vocation  for  women. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  a  paying  profession,  irrespective 
of  any  desire  for  a  career  in  which  the  highest  success  may 
be  attained,  geology  has  several  profitable  openings.  Several 
possible  occupations  that  do  not  entail  field  work  have  been 
noted  above.  In  addition,  there  is  a  new  and  rather  promising 
field  that  has  opened  since  the  war  for  men  and  women  who 
have  had  a  geological  training  and  who  wish  to  devote  them- 
selves to  the  statistical  and  bibliographical  study  of  mineral 
resources  both  domestic  and  foreign.  The  shortage  and  allo- 
cation of  mineral  supplies  caused  by  the  paralysis  of  com- 
merce during  the  war  brought  the  Government  and  the  min- 
ing profession  to  realize  the  vital  necessity  of  keeping  in  close 
touch  with  the  mineral  situation  throughout  the  world.  The 
United  States  Geological  Survey  has  estabhshed  a  section  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  foreign  mineral  resources,  in  which 
women  may  find  a  promising  field  for  activity.  Several  prom- 
inent mining  engineer  oflBces  throughout  the  country  are 
maintaining  information  branches  for  the  benefit  of  their 
clients,  and  in  at  least  one  case  a  woman  is  successfully  con- 
ducting this  branch  of  their  work.  High  schools  and  women's 
colleges  also  offer  a  certain  opportunity  for  teachers  of 
geology. 

Training  necessary 

Among  schools  preparing  women  for  geology  are  Bryn  Mawr, 
Vassar,  Wellesley,  Mount  Holyoke,  Smith,  Barnard,  Rad- 
cliffe,  Cornell,  and  the  various  State  universities.  For  statis- 
tical and  bibliographical  work  at  least  two  years  of  under- 
graduate geology  are  desirable.  Any  one  who  wishes  to  carry 
on  more  extensive  research  will  find  one  or  two  years  of  post- 
graduate work  a  valuable  asset.  Scientific  courses  are  a  good 


416  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

preliminary  to  the  study  of  geology,  particularly  chemistry 
and  physics.  Biology  is  very  desirable  for  those  who  intend 
to  specialize  in  the  organic  side  of  geology.  English  composi- 
tion and  literature  is  a  good  foundation  for  scientific  writing, 
and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  languages,  particularly  of 
French  and  German,  is  most  important.  Mathematics  is  a 
good  course  to  take  in  connection  with  scientific  work,  as  a 
certain  amount  of  mathematics  enters  into  all  science  and 
because  the  study  of  mathematics  helps  to  develop  scientific 
reasoning  powers.  It  may  be  said  of  preparation  for  geology 
as  of  preparation  for  all  specialized  work  that  a  wide  range 
in  undergraduate  work  is  highly  desirable  in  order  to  develop 
a  breadth  of  vision  and  a  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  special- 
ized field. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Teaching  positions  for  women  geologists  offer  the  usual 
opportunity  for  advancement  that  is  afforded  by  schools  and 
colleges.  In  the  case  of  women's  colleges  the  maximum  ad- 
vancement would  naturally  be  to  head  of  the  department. 
The  chances  for  advancement  in  commercial  work  are  still 
unestablished,  as  this  is  a  new  field  for  women.  They  must 
of  necessity  be  largely  dependent  upon  the  individual,  as  the 
advancement  of  any  individual  in  a  business  firm  is  condi- 
tioned entirely  by  the  value  of  that  individual  to  the  business. 
A  woman  in  a  mining  office  will  usually  suffer  from  the  handi- 
cap that  she  is  not  available  for  active  field  work.  The  best 
opportunities  for  advancement  for  women  in  the  geological 
profession  probably  lie  with  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  and  with  active  State  Surveys  where  women  have 
a  good  chance  to  make  their  services  increasingly  valuable. 

Financial  return 

The  minimum  financial  return  would  probably  be  received  by 
teachers  of  physical  geography  in  high  schools  or  assistants  in 
college  laboratories,  and  at  the  present  time  the  maximum  re- 


THE  GEOLOGIST  417 

turn  IS  doubtless  received  by  women  professors  of  geology. 
This  minimum  and  maximum  would  vary  with  the  individual 
school  or  college,  but  would  range  somewhere  between  $800 
to  $4000  a  year.  The  salaries  of  geologists  in  the  Federal 
Survey  are  under  course  of  reclassification.  The  minimum 
salary  now  paid  to  a  geologic  aid  is  $1200  a  year  and  carries 
with  it  a  bonus  of  $240  a  year.  Salaries  of  State  officials  vary 
with  the  individual  States.  Commercial  positions  offer  about 
$1800  to  $2000.  They  are  still  such  an  untried  field  for 
women  that  it  is  impossible  to  predict  their  maximum  return. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Natural  qualifications  that  are  essential  to  the  good  field 
geologist  in  general  are  good  health,  strength,  endurance, 
good  power  of  observation,  a  sense  of  direction,  accuracy, 
neatness,  keenness  of  deduction,  and  good  power  of  visualiza- 
tion. A  woman  particularly  requires  adaptability  and  poise, 
as  her  life  in  the  field  will  throw  her  in  contact  with  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men.  Personal  courage  and  a  well-con- 
trolled nervous  system  are  essential  requisites. 

In  the  office  a  good  memory,  statistical  sense,  and  sound 
judgment  are  excellent  qualifications  for  the  geologist. 

The  acquired  qualifications  to  success  are  those  that  would 
be  cultivated  by  constant  work  in  the  subject.  Among 
them  might  be  mentioned  a  good  memory  for  estabHshed 
types  which  will  enable  the  geologist  to  recognize  readily 
rocks,  minerals,  and  fossils  that  he  has  once  seen.  Draughts- 
manship and  a  certain  amount  of  mechanical  skill  should  be 
cultivated. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Many  advantages  in  geology  as  a  profession  might  be  enu- 
merated by  those  who  love  the  subject.  Out-of-door  exercise 
and  constant  change  of  environment  tend  to  keep  both  mind 
and  body  vigorous  and  healthy  and  to  avoid  falling  into  a  rut. 
The  people  with  whom  the  geologist  comes  in  contact  are 


418  CAREERS  FOR  WOMENi^ 

varied,  derived  from  all  walks  of  life,  and  generally  interesting. 
The  indoor  work  has  the  advantage  of  usually  being  located  in 
centers  with  cultural  advantages  such  as  large  cities  and  uni- 
versities. 

The  chief  disadvantage  in  a  geological  profession  for  women 
is  the  restricted  opportunity  for  field  work.  There  are  many 
sections  of  the  country  in  which  it  is  not  safe  to  send  a  woman 
alone.  It  is  hard  to  detail  one  woman  to  a  camping  party  of 
three  or  four  men.  In  order  to  live  the  life  of  a  field  geologist 
a  woman  must  be  strong  and  of  an  active  disposition.  The 
hours  are  long  and  a  good  field  day  covers  from  seven  in  the 
morning  to  six  at  night.  In  addition  there  is  often  map  work 
and  labeling  of  specimens  to  be  done  at  night,  so  that  four- 
teen hours*  work  is  a  very  common  occurrence  in  a  day  in  the 
field.  A  great  many  women  will  regard  the  necessity  for  long, 
rough  walking,  often  averaging  anywhere  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  miles  a  day,  as  a  disadvantage.  Exposure  to  all  kinds 
of  weather,  to  cold,  heat,  and  wet,  often  makes  life  in  the  open 
hard.  Poor  accommodations  and  poor  food  are  frequently 
the  portion  of  the  field  geologist. 

In  the  office  the  disadvantages  are  very  similar  to  those  of 
any  indoor  office  occupation.  As  contrasted  with  teaching  the 
hours  are  more  confining.  There  are  no  full  Saturday  holi- 
days and  only  brief  leave  for  summer  vacations. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  trained  women  geologists  is  at  present  prob- 
ably larger  than  the  supply  owing  to  the  fact  that  many  men 
in  search  of  increased  pay  are  leaving  certain  fields  of  geology, 
for  instance  the  Federal  and  State  Surveys.  The  demand  for 
geologists  to  fill  office  positions  such  as  described  under  the 
Foreign  Mineral  Section  of  the  Geological  Survey  and  in 
commercial  offices  of  oil  companies  and  mining  engineers  will 
probably  increase,  and  women  will  doubtless  find  in  these  posi- 
tions assured  and  reasonably  lucrative  openings  for  geological 
work.  The  demand  for  women  as  field  geologists  will  probably 


THE  MEDICAL  RESEARCH  WORKER        419 

not  materially  increase  in  the  near  future  owing  to  the  inher- 
ent difficulties  in  this  occupation  for  women.  Nevertheless 
it  must  be  remembered  that  there  are  at  present  very  few 
women  engaged  in  this  country  in  the  active  profession  of 
geology  and  that  they  are  in  every  sense  of  the  word  pioneers. 
It  has  been  established  that  it  is  not  impossible  for  women  to 
do  successful  work  in  geology,  and  the  future  of  the  profession 
as  a  career  for  women  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  the 
enthusiasm  and  devotion  of  those  women  who  are  willing  and 
anxious  to  devote  themselves  to  a  work  which  can  be  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  repaying  to  those  who  love  it. 


THE  MEDICAL  RESEARCH  WORKER 

KATHERINE  R.  DRINKER,  M.D. 

Managing  Editor,  Journal  of  Industrial  Hygiene 

Description  of  occupation  and  actual  work  done 
Medical  research  in  its  broadest  sense  comprehends  at  the 
present  time  investigation  not  only  in  medicine  and  in  sur- 
gery, but  also  in  the  fundamental  sciences  of  anatomy,  bac- 
teriology, biology,  chemistry,  pathology,  and  physiology. 
There  are,  it  seems  to  me,  three  types  of  opportunity  for 
women  taking  up  medical  research  as  a  profession.  First 
comes  work  in  the  colleges  and  universities  in  such  depart- 
ments as  those  of  biology,  chemistry,  and  physiology.  Here 
a  woman  may  work  upon  research  problems  provided  her 
time  is  not  entirely  filled  with  teaching  —  which,  unfortu- 
nately, it  usually  is.  As  a  general  rule  it  is  perhaps  safe  to  say 
that  the  smaller  the  college,  the  more  the  teaching,  and  the 
less  the  money  and  time  available  for  research.  On  the  whole, 
the  outlook  for  the  medical  investigator  in  the  colleges  is 
none  too  promising.  Besides,  in  the  colleges  there  are  places 
for  medical  investigators  to  be  had  in  hospitals  —  positions 
such  as  that  of  chemist  or  pathologist  to  the  hospital  in  ques- 
tion. Positions  of  this  sort  usually  include  general  oversight 


420  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

of  the  routine  hospital  chemical  or  pathological  work,  and 
afford  time  and  equipment  for  research.  The  third  type  of 
research  opportunity  is  to  be  found  in  research  institutes 
and  in  the  fundamental  departments  in  medical  schools  — 
departments  of  anatomy,  bacteriology,  biological  chemistry, 
pathology,  physiology,  and  experimental  medicine  and  surgery. 
The  actual  type  of  work  which  may  be  done  in  any  one  of 
these  environments  runs  all  the  gamut  of  medical  possibilities 
from  abstract  laboratory  problems  in  theoretical  chemistry 
to  actual  work  upon  hospital  patients.  One  may  seek  to  find 
a  new  method  for  detecting  lead  in  human  tissue,  the  effect 
of  the  electromagnet  on  muscular  action,  the  cause  of  hunger 
or  thirst,  the  nature  of  the  nerve  impulse,  the  cause  of  measles, 
why  workers  in  foundries  suffer  from  "brass  chills,"  what 
happens  to  the  lungs  of  stonecutters  —  there  is  no  limit  to 
the  multiplicity  of  important  and  fascinating  problems  which 
people  the  world  of  medical  research. 

Training  necessary 

Without  doubt  the  medical  investigator  should  be  equipped 
with  a  Ph.D.  or  an  M.D.  degree,  with  the  training  which  these 
degrees  imply.  A  Ph.D.  degree  preliminary  to  medical  re- 
search may  be  obtained  in  any  one  of  the  fundamental  sciences 
in  such  university  or  college  departments  as  those  of  biology, 
chemistry,  physiology,  etc.  The  student  should  seek  to  ob- 
tain her  degree  in  the  laboratory  of  the  man  or  woman  pre- 
eminent in  the  line  in  which  she  wishes  to  specialize.  Three 
years  at  least  of  graduate  work  are  required  to  become  a 
doctor  of  philosophy.  A  medical  degree  requires  four,  in 
many  places  five  years  of  study  beyond  the  preliminary  pre- 
medical  college  work.  In  these  times,  however,  a  woman  has 
no  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  good  medical  education.  Practi- 
cally all  of  the  first-class  medical  schools  have  opened  their 
doors  to  our  sex.  There  are  fewer  good  hospital  opportunities, 
but  this  is  merely  a  disadvantage,  not  a  deterrent.  But  the 
young  medical  graduate  does  not  leave  the  medical  school  or 


THE  MEDICAL  RESEARCH  WORKER       421 

hospital  ready  to  become  a  full-fledged  investigator.  She  is 
merely  ready  to  begin  at  a  small  salary  her  apprenticeship  in 
the  laboratory  of  an  investigator  who  has  already  achieved 
success.  Indeed,  a  man's  distinction  in  the  research  world 
may  often  be  gauged  by  the  number  of  young  students  who 
apply  for  work  in  his  laboratory.  It  would  perhaps  seem 
from  this  account  that  a  doctorate  in  philosophy  were  prefer- 
able for  a  medical  investigator  to  the  doctorate  in  medicine. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  Though  the  apprenticeship 
for  the  physician  may  be  longer,  in  general  the  opportunities 
eventually  offered  him  are  better  than  those  coming  to  the 
doctor  of  philosophy.  Evidence  for  this  fact  may  be  found  in 
the  number  of  investigators  with  Ph.D.  degrees  who  even- 
tually study  medicine. 

The  college  student  who  makes  up  her  mind  to  become 
either  a  medical  investigator  or  a  practicing  physician  can 
benefit  herself  enormously  by  a  wise  choice  of  undergraduate 
courses.  I  cannot  emphasize  this  point  too  strongly.  My  per- 
sonal experience  is  that  all  too  seldom  is  the  college  student 
advised  aright  as  to  pre-medical  work.  The  best  courses  to 
take  are  these:  higher  algebra  through  quadratic  equations, 
geometry  (plane  and  solid),  trigonometry,  and  calculus;  one 
year  at  least  of  college  physics;  chemistry  including  inorganic, 
organic,  qualitative  and  quantitative  analysis,  and  a  course 
in  physical  chemistry;  one  year  of  biology;  and  French  and 
German  enough  to  insure  a  good  reading  knowledge  of  these 
languages.  My  demand  for  more  chemistry  and  mathematics 
and  less  biology  than  is  usually  urged  may  seem  heretical  to 
many  advisors  of  college  students,  but  the  wisdom  of  it  will 
be  enthusiastically  subscribed  to  by  the  majority  of  medical 
investigators. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  in  the  world  of  medical 
research  depend  entirely  upon  the  ability  of  the  individual 
and  the  character  of  the  investigative  work  which  she  does. 


422  CAKEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Dr.  Florence  R.  Sabin,  one  of  the  foremost  women  in  medical 
research  in  the  United  States,  is  Professor  of  Histology  in  the 
Johns  Hopkins  Medical  School;  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton,  who  has 
devoted  herself  to  industrial  medical  investigation,  is  Assist- 
ant Professor  of  Industrial  Medicine  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School;  Dr.  Vera  Danchakoff  is  Assistant  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  (the  medical 
school  of  Columbia  University) ;  Dr.  Martha  Wollstein  is  an 
associate  of  the  Rockefeller  Institute  for  Medical  Research. 
These  are  a  few  of  the  women  who  have  made  good  in  the 
field  of  medical  investigation.  Though  it  is,  undoubtedly, 
more  diflScult  for  a  woman  than  for  a  man  of  equal  ability 
to  attain  a  position  of  eminence  in  this  field,  if  the  character 
of  her  work  is  suflSciently  distinguished  practically  no  oppor- 
tunity is  closed  to  her. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  in  the  profession  of  medical  research 
may  perhaps  be  listed  as  its  greatest  disadvantage  —  the 
maximum  salary  obtainable  by  a  woman  being  probably 
about  $5000  or  $6000,  the  minimum  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$1000. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

This  material  disadvantage  is,  however,  to  my  mind  enor- 
mously counterbalanced  by  the  advantages  and  satisfaction  of 
a  life  devoted  to  a  search  for  the  unknown,  to  an  effort  to  add 
to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge  and  to  make  medicine  more 
fitted  to  cope  with  its  task  of  alleviating  suffering  and  pre- 
venting disease;  a  life  without  hurry  or  bustle,  among  people 
with  the  same  high  ideals  and  the  same  intellectual  interests, 
a  life  full  of  creative  and  imaginative  effort  of  which  one's 
work  is  the  absorbingly  interesting  center. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  natural  qualifications  which  seem  to  me  to  be  essential 

to  the  successful  investigator  are  imagination,  intellectual 


THE  PAPER  CHEMIST  423 

curiosity,  and  capacity  for  great  enthusiasm;  but  these  qual- 
ities are  valueless  without  the  acquired  qualification  of  sound 
fundamental  training.  Impartiality,  power  of  making  dis- 
criminating and  fair  judgments  and  of  seeing  things  in  proper 
perspective,  willingness  to  work  hard,  to  see  things  through, 
to  face  failure  courageously  and  success  with  composure, 
orderliness  of  mind  and  of  action,  manual  dexterity  —  all 
these  are  qualifications  advantageous  to  the  potential  inves- 
tigator. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  number  of  women  in  the  United  States  engaged  in  med- 
ical research  is  comparatively  small;  a  few  hundred  at  the 
outside,  and  these  are  scattered  about  the  country  working 
in  the  various  colleges,  hospitals,  and  medical  schools.  The 
demand  for  able  women  in  this  field  of  medical  investigation 
is  certainly  greater  than  the  supply,  but  real  success  in  it  — 
for  men  and  women  alike  —  is  the  achievement  of  the  happy 
few.  "Many  are  the  wand-bearers,  few  are  the  mystics,"  as 
the  old  Greek  has  it;  or,  in  the  words  which  we  know  better, 
"Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen." 


THE  PAPER  CHEMIST 

JESSIE  E.  MINOR 

Paper  Chemist^  Hamersley  Manufacturing  Company,  Garfield^  New  Jersey 

Description  of  occupation 

The  making  of  paper  has  been  developed  much  more  as  an  art 
than  as  a  science.  The  chemistry  involved  in  the  process  is  so 
complex  and  so  specialized  that  even  now  it  is  but  partially 
understood  by  the  best  of  chemists.  This  is  one  reason  why 
the  practical  paper-maker  has  been  so  reluctant  to  accept  the 
assistance  of  the  chemist  in  his  work. 

The  work  of  a  paper-mill  chemist,  as  of  many  other  indus- 
trial chemists,  is  of  a  threefold  nature.    First,  there  is  the 


424  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

sampling  and  analyzing  of  all  raw  materials.  This  requires 
a  knowledge  of  the  use  to  which  the  material  is  to  be  put,  good 
judgment  and  care  in  the  obtaining  of  a  sample  which  will  be 
truly  representative  of  the  whole,  and  such  an  analysis  as  will 
give  just  the  information  desired.  With  some  commercial 
materials  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  strive  for  an  accuracy 
greater  than  one  per  cent,  whereas  in  other  cases  it  is  quite 
essential  that  duplicate  analyses  check  within  0.01  per  cent. 
These  raw  materials  cover  a  very  wide  range  and  depend 
largely  upon  the  kind  of  product  put  out  by  the  particular 
mill.  They  will  probably  include  wood  pulp  or  rag,  dyes  of  all 
kinds,  bleaches,  rosin,  clay,  alum,  starch,  glue,  and  casein  for 
the  paper-mill,  and,  for  the  accessory  departments,  there  may 
be  coal,  fuel  oil,  lubricating  oil,  flue  gas,  power  gas,  metals, 
alloys,  waxes,  and  numerous  other  materials. 

After  testing  the  raw  materials  the  chemist  must  go  one 
step  further  and  watch  the  changes  which  these  raw  materials 
undergo  in  order  to  see  that  uniformity  is  maintained.  She 
must  decide  just  when  and  where  to  take  samples  for  analyses, 
or  perhaps  for  some  physical  test  which  will  give  information 
on  the  working-out  of  the  process.  A  wide-awake  chemist 
will  be  a  real  source  of  information  to  the  management,  for 
she  will  be  able  to  discover  when  results  are  running  abnormal 
for  which  an  explanation  should  be  sought. 

The  third  phase  of  the  work  of  the  chemist  is  to  try  out  and 
develop  new  processes  or  the  use  of  new  materials  which 
might  be  of  value  if  successful.  Vast  amounts  of  money  have 
been  spent  for  machinery  which  could  have  been  saved  by  a 
chemist  who  could  duplicate  machinery  conditions  and  carry 
out  the  process  on  a  laboratory  scale.  For  this  purpose  we 
have  found  the  egg-beater,  the  butter  churn,  and  the  potato- 
ricer  of  inestimable  value.  For  this  purpose  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  engineering  problems  involved  is  of  great  value, 
for  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  obtain  such  cooperation  between 
a  pure  chemist  and  an  engineer  as  will  give  results  when  re- 
searching on  new  problems  which  are  at  all  comparable  with 


THE  PAPER  CHEMIST  425 

those  obtained  by  one  person  who  is  primarily  a  chemist,  but 
who  has  sufficient  knowledge  of  mechanical  engineering  to 
carry  the  problem  to  the  limit. 

Preparation  necessary 

As  to  the  amount  of  training  required  to  become  a  paper-mill 
chemist  there  is  neither  a  minimum  nor  a  maximum.  It  is 
quite  a  common  practice  to  teach  to  a  high-school  graduate 
the  routine  control  work  including  titration  analyses,  simple 
gravimetric  analyses,  extraction,  distillation,  etc.  Usually 
it  is  possible  to  give  enough  variety  in  this  kind  of  work  to 
afford,  to  the  wide-awake  person  who  is  willing  to  study  the 
theoretic  considerations  involved,  an  opportunity  for  ad- 
vancement which  is  superior  to  that  of  the  average  college 
laboratory  because  of  the  individual  attention  and  the  added 
incentive  of  knowing  the  practical  value  of  the  work.  All  that 
is  required  is  honesty,  industry,  keen  observation,  and  a  rea- 
sonable amount  of  manipulative  ability. 

But  for  the  research  chemist,  who  originates  her  own  work, 
it  is  absolutely  essential  to  have  at  least  a  college  education. 
This  should  include  all  the  chemistry  possible  and  every 
kind.  Next  in  importance  are  physics  and  biology,  or  some 
other  subject  using  the  microscope.  Many  laboratories  are 
making  use  of  microphotography  and  microchemical  analyses. 
After  that  comes  practical  psychology.  The  methods  of  the 
chemist  are  usually  non-understandable  and  results  are  de- 
pendent upon  her  abihty  to  hold  the  confidence  of  the  man- 
agement. It  is  here  that  the  woman  chemist  faces  her  largest 
disadvantage,  for  the  average  industrial  man  finds  it  difficult 
to  believe  that  a  mere  woman  can  solve  his  mill  problems. 
The  college  girl  who  contemplates  an  industrial  position 
should  embrace  every  opportunity  to  visit  industrial  plants 
and  to  talk  with  industrial  men  in  order  to  get  their  points  of 
view  and  thus  be  able  to  meet  them  on  equal  terms  in  dis- 
cussions of  business  matters. 

For  the  position  of  independent  chemist  or  chief  chemist. 


426  CABEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

post-graduate  work  is  essential.  Even  the  training  obtained 
in  writing  doctors'  theses,  when  one  learns  to  study  the  litera- 
ture exhaustively  and  to  follow  a  problem  to  its  most  minute 
detail,  is  of  inestimable  value. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

As  to  the  opportunities  for  advancement  everything  would 
depend  upon  the  extent  to  which  the  chemist  obtained  the 
confidence  of  the  management,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  a 
woman  should  not  advance  as  surely  as  a  man,  though  perhaps 
more  slowly. 

Financial  return 

As  to  financial  matters  I  do  not  believe  that  the  average 
laboratory  is  paying  women  chemists  any  more  than  a  simi- 
larly equipped  person  can  get  in  the  teaching  world,  and  often 
the  longer  hours  are  only  compensated  for  by  the  lack  of  class- 
room tension  and  the  better  educational  opportunities.  The 
plan  in  the  laboratory  of  the  writer  is  to  give  to  each  girl  an 
opportunity  to  pubHsh  research  which  is  worked  out  with  as 
much  care  and  assistance  as  is  given  to  the  average  Ph.D. 
candidate. 

Supply  and  demand 

While  at  present  the  number  of  women  in  paper-mill  labora- 
tories is  not  great,  there  is  no  real  reason  why  girls  should  not 
take  hold  of  paper-mill  laboratories  and  develop  the  work  in 
a  manner  which  would  be  in  many  respects  more  satisfactory 
than  when  controlled  by  men. 

Reading 

One  who  is  thinking  of  paper-mill  chemistry  will  find  interest 
and  profit  in  reading  "Cellulose'*  and  "Paper-Making,"  by 
Cross  and  Bevan,  who  represent  the  most  universally  recog- 
nized standard  authority  on  the  subject  of  the  chemistry  of 
paper-making. 


THE  PHARMACIST  427 

THE  PHARMACIST 

ELEANOR  KERKER 

Assistant  Registrar,  College  of  Pharmacy,  Columbia  University 

Description  of  occupation 

While  pharmacy  usually  conveys  to  the  lay  mind  only. the 
routine  work  of  the  pharmacy  or  drug-store,  the  profession  also 
embraces  the  closely  allied  work  of  the  pharmacognosist  and 
of  the  pharmaceutical  chemist.  The  former  is  trained  to 
carry  out,  by  means  of  the  microscope,  the  analysis  of  the 
crude  drugs  employed  in  medicine  to  determine  their  genuine- 
ness and  purity,  while  the  latter  finds  his  place  in  the  labora- 
tory of  the  pharmaceutical  manufacturing  house,  there  to 
carry  out  the  production  of  proprietary  medicines,  galenical 
preparations,  etc. 

In  all  of  these  branches,  and  in  the  pharmaceutical  depart- 
ments of  the  various  hospitals  as  well,  women  have  begun  to 
take  their  places  on  an  equal  footing  with  men. 

While  it  is  true  that  at  the  present  itime  the  pharmacy 
schools  in  general  require  but  two  years  of  training  for  the 
degree  of  Graduate  in  Pharmacy,  based  on  two  years  in  high 
school,  the  more  far-sighted  and  progressive  schools  have  long 
maintained  higher  courses  requiring  high-school  graduation 
for  admission,  and  leading  to  such  degrees  as  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  Bachelor  of  Science  in  Pharmacy,  and  Doctor  of 
Pharmacy.  These  courses  aim  to  prepare  graduates  for  the 
more  technical  requirements  of  laboratory  work,  for  clinical 
analyses,  the  preparation  of  biological  products,  teaching, 
etc.,  as  well  as  to  form  a  basis  for  the  change  from  the  two  to 
the  four-year  high-school,  when  that  requirement  becomes  the 
rule. 

Training  necessary 

The  preliminary  and  professional  training  required  is  not  the 

same  in  all  States,  but  the  National  Association  of  Boards  of 


428  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Pharmacy  and  the  American  Conference  of  Pharmaceutical 
Faculties  have  adopted  minimum  requirements  which  are 
binding  upon  their  members,  and  in  which  bodies  the  more 
progressive  States  and  schools  respectively  hold  membership. 

The  National  Association  of  the  various  State  Boards 
recommends  that  its  members  demand,  for  admission  to  their 
licensing  examinations,  that  the  candidate  be  at  least  twenty- 
one  years  of  age;  that  he  have  at  least  four  years  of  practical 
experience,  and  that  he  shall  have  completed  a  course  of  at 
least  two  years  at  a  recognized  college  of  pharmacy.  The  time 
spent  at  the  pharmacy  college  is  credited  as  "experience." 

The  Conference  requires  its  members  to  maintain  a  course 
of  at  least  two  years  for  the  degree  of  Graduate  in  Pharmacy, 
and  requires  at  least  two  years  of  high-school  work  for  ad- 
mission. It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Conference  recently  voted 
that  in  1923  and  thereafter  the  minimum  requirement  for 
admission  to  the  schools  holding  membership  therein  shall 
be  high-school  graduation. 

There  are  some  seventy-nine  schools  of  pharmacy  in  the 
United  States,  about  three  fourths  of  which  are  members  of 
the  Conference. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  in  retail  pharmacy  vary  according  to 
the  locality.  In  the  larger  cities,  like  New  York,  registered 
pharmacists  are  able  to  secure  from  $50  to  $60  per  week;  while 
students  who  are  employed  while  attending  college  are  able 
to  earn  from  $12  to  $15,  and  in  some  cases  $18  per  week. 
This  sum  varies  naturally  with  the  amount  of  experience  pos- 
sessed by  the  employee.  One  of  the  unique  features  of  the 
pharmacy  schools  in  the  large  cities,  where  the  demand  for 
unregistered  employees  in  pharmacies  is  very  great,  is  the 
arrangement  by  these  schools  of  their  programmes,  making 
possible  the  performance  of  the  required  work  on  three  days 
of  the  week.  This  arrangement  permits  the  student  to  secure 
employment  on  the  days  he  is  not  attending  college  and  gives 


THE  PHARMACIST  429 

the  pharmacist  the  services  of  a  first  and  second-year  student, 
each  for  three,  or  three  and  a  half  days  a  week,  according  to 
his  requirements.  When  the  higher  requirements  for  admis- 
sion to  the  pharmacy  schools  become  effective,  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  financial  returns  will  be  greater. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Although  the  members  of  the  pharmaceutical  profession, 
especially  those  in  the  retail  branches,  have  been  rather  con- 
servative concerning  the  employment  of  women,  they  are 
rapidly  awakening  to  the  realization  that  here,  as  in  other 
lines  of  work,  the  logical  distinction  should  be  among  indi- 
viduals and  not  between  sexes.  Women  seem  to  possess  the 
requirements  requisite  for  success  in  pharmaceutical  opera- 
tions. They  are  normally  neat,  accurate,  conscientious,  and 
tactful,  the  qualities  most  essential  for  such  success. 

Pharmacists  have  always  been  looked  upon  as  professional 
people,  and  their  standing  in  the  community  is  equal  to  that 
of  the  physician  or  lawyer.  One  disadvantage  in  entering  the 
pharmaceutical  profession  has  hitherto  been  the  confinement 
during  long  hours,  but  this  condition  is  rapidly  being  bettered 
through  the  cooperation  of  those  in  the  profession. 

Supply  and  demand 

In  the  large  cities  the  demand  for  properly  trained  pharma- 
cists has  always  exceeded  the  supply,  and  this  condition  seems 
to  be  aggravated  rather  than  minimized  with  each  succeeding 
year. 

Reading 

The  various  pharmaceutical  journals  have  published,  from 
time  to  time,  series  of  articles  upon  the  subject  of  women  in 
pharmacy,  outHning  the  careers  of  successful  women  in  phar- 
maceutical circles.  These  would  make  interesting  reading  for 
any  young  woman  who  contemplates  making  pharmacy  her 
life-work. 


430  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

THE  PHYSICIST 

PROFESSOR  MARGARET  E.  MALTBY 

Columbia  University 

Description  of  occupation 

The  woman  physicist  in  the  strict  sense  is  a  rara  avis.  This  is 
due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  among  which  is  the  fact  that  until 
very  recently  research  positions  in  physics  for  women  have 
been  very  rare  —  in  fact,  there  have  been  few  such  positions 
for  men  outside  educational  institutions.  Research  labora- 
tories in  industrial  plants  is  a  recent  development,  so  that 
practically  the  profession  of  physicist  was  confined  to  the 
teaching  of  physics  with  small  opportunity  for  research.  An- 
other contributing  cause  is  the  fact  that  few  women  have  the 
combination  of  a  constructive  imagination,  the  mechanical 
skill  necessary  for  the  successful  investigator,  the  mastery 
of  mathematics  —  an  essential  tool  of  the  physicist  —  and  a 
broad  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  applications  of  a  sci- 
ence that  taxes  the  imagination  and  reasoning  power,  and 
that  is  mathematical  because  it  is  exact. 

That  few  women  have  entered  this  field  need  not  frighten 
those  who  have  the  ability  and  the  willingness  to  labor  long 
and  earnestly  in  a  difficult  field,  but  one  well  worth  the  effort. 

During  the  recent  war  the  opportunities  for  women  physi- 
cists in  research  in  Government  scientific  bureaus  or  in  insti- 
tutions engaged  in  research  for  the  Government  were  greater 
than  ever  before,  and  many  of  these  are  still  open  to  women 
who  have  the  necessary  training.  Women  were  engaged  in 
the  Aberdeen  Proving  Grounds  of  the  Ordnance  Department, 
assisting  in  testing  the  velocities  of  projectiles  and  allied 
work;  also  in  assisting  in  the  research  departments  of  the 
Bureau  of  Standards  in  Washington,  and  in  its  testing  depart- 
ments too.  Important  industries  like  the  General  Electric, 
the  Western  Electric,  the  American  Telephone  and  Telegraph 
Company,  and  manufacturers  of  optical  instruments,  etc.. 


THE  PHYSICIST  431 

all  have  research  laboratories,  and  women  assist  the  engi- 
neers in  charge  if  any  can  be  found  qualified  for  the  work.  All 
these  and  other  industries  have  testing  departments  where 
the  work  is  more  mechanical  and  less  knowledge  of  physics  is 
essential.  I  am  not  including  these  in  positions  suitable  for 
women  physicists.  So  we  may  say  that  the  occupation  of 
women  physicists  is  not  limited  now  to  teaching  physics. 

Training  necessary 

If  one  is  to  go  beyond  the  stage  of  ordinary  rather  monoto- 
nous testing,  for  which  a  high-school  course  in  physics  may 
suffice,  the  better  the  training  the  greater  the  possibilities  for 
interesting  research  and  advancement.  For  this  the  best 
training  in  my  opinion  is  that  given  by  a  stiff  broad  college 
course,  including  all  the  mathematical  courses;  and  at  least 
general  chemistry;  the  first  courses  in  some  other  sciences,  the 
selection  of  which  will  be  determined  by  the  branch  of  physics 
in  which  the  student  wishes  to  specialize;  several  courses  in 
physics;  modern  languages  (the  physicist  is  not  averse  to  the 
classics,  but  the  ability  to  read  French  and  German  is  essen- 
tial) ;  a  sufficient  training  in  English  composition  to  enable  the 
student  to  give  a  clear,  logical  exposition  of  a  subject;  and 
finally  as  many  "cultural"  subjects  as  possible.  This  should 
be  followed  by  graduate  study  leading  to  the  Ph.D.  degree 
in  a  first-class  university,  with  physics  as  major  and  mathe- 
matics as  a  minor  subject.  It  would  be  advantageous  to  a 
woman  to  take  a  few  courses  designed  for  engineering  stu- 
dents. She  has  the  practical  applications  emphasized  in  such 
courses,  and  this  is  the  side  on  which  women  are  usually 
weakest.  One  or  two  summer  vacations  spent  in  a  research 
laboratory  as  assistant  would  be  helpful  in  this  respect.  If 
she  wishes  to  teach  physics  in  college  I  would  strongly  recom- 
mend a  year  or  so  abroad  or  with  the  best  physicists  available 
in  her  line.  This  is  an  advantage  if  she  is  to  enter  the  field  of 
research  as  well  as  education. 


432  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Given  this  preparation  —  which  we  assume  she  has  iitihzed 
as  wisely  as  possible  —  the  opportunity  for  advancement  in 
research  depends  entirely  upon  the  character  of  the  woman 
herself  and  her  ability.  There  seems  to  be  no  prejudice  against 
a  woman,  if  she  can  do  the  work  as  well  as  or  better  than  a 
man.  It  is  difficult  to  be  specific,  for  such  opportunities  have 
been  open  to  women  so  few  years  and  the  cases  are  individual. 
A  general  notion  has  been  prevalent  that  women  have  no 
interest  or  aptitude  in  fields  requiring  mechanical  ability. 
But  with  the  increasing  use  of  automobiles  and  household 
mechanical  or  electrical  devices  women  are  acquiring  familiar- 
ity with  their  construction  and  operation.  Perhaps  the  con- 
servative academic  world  is  more  imbued  with  the  idea  of 
women's  limitations  in  this  direction  than  the  industries,  for 
it  has  been  difficult  for  women  to  get  full  professorships  in  the 
department  of  physics. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  for  all  this  expensive  education  varies, 
and  it  depends  upon  the  ability  of  the  woman.  If  she  begins 
as  a  research  assistant  in  some  Government  bureau  she  might 
have  to  begin  at  $1400  a  year,  but  with  the  training  I  have 
outlined  she  could  undoubtedly  command  more  and  be  ad- 
vanced as  she  proved  herself  capable  of  independent  investi- 
gation, particularly  if  she  is  equipped  to  meet  the  demand  for 
expert  service  in  some  industrial  field.  The  salaries  for  such 
positions  are  not  usually  advertised.  There  are  fine  possibilities 
for  the  woman  of  ability,  initiative,  and  physical  endurance 
who  has  the  requisite  training.  It  is  no  easy  field.  Her  position 
would  be  no  sinecure.  She  will  have  little  competition  even 
among  men,  for  the  majority  go  into  strictly  engineering  fields. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

For  success  as  a  physicist  one  must  have  a  constructive  im- 
agination —  the  ability  to  picture  the  mechanism  of  nature's 


THE  PLANT  PATHOLOGIST  433 

phenomena,  and  to  devise  experiments  to  test  that  mechan- 
ism; a  logical  mind  strengthened  by  the  training  in  mathe- 
matics :  devotion  to  the  truth  stronger  than  any  personal  pride 
in  one's  hypotheses  or  theories,  and  a  willingness  to  take  al- 
most infinite  pains  in  experimentation,  if  that  is  necessary  to 
the  success  of  the  experiment.  Further,  one  should  have  a 
certain  mechanical  sense.  Though  the  construction  of  the 
apparatus  is  ordinarily  left  to  a  mechanic,  yet  the  design  of 
the  apparatus  best  adapted  to  the  purpose  is  usually  made  by 
the  physicist.  The  sustained  control  of  the  mind  and  eye  or 
ear  during  a  long  series  of  observations  is  physically  taxing  at 
times. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Physical  laboratories  in  educational  or  industrial  institutions 
are  usually  pleasant,  hygienic  places  in  which  to  work.  The 
hours  are  not  long  unless  one  chooses  to  make  them  so  to 
finish  an  experiment.  The  constant  development  and  variety 
in  the  work  with  fresh  discoveries,  the  sustained  interest  in 
trying  to  solve  "Nature's  secrets,"  and  the  fascination  of 
dealing  with  "eternal  verities"  either  in  research  or  in  teach- 
ing, all  make  it  an  inspiring,  though  by  no  means  easy,  field. 


THE  PLANT  PATHOLOGIST 

FLORA  W.  PATTERSON 

Mycologist  in  charge  of  Pathological  Collections ,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry 
Washington,  D.C. 

Description  of  occupation 

A  PLANT  PATHOLOGIST  is  ouc  posscssiug  ability  to  recognize  or 
to  investigate  diseases  of  plants.  Unless  they  result  from  in- 
sect attacks,  such  diseases  are  mainly  caused  by  fungi,  bac- 
teria, unsuitable  cultural  conditions,  or  unfavorable  weather. 
Diseases  caused  by  insects  must  be  given  consideration  by 
entomologists.   A  diagnosis  of  a  disease  resulting  from  the 


434  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

presence  of  but  one  of  the  factors  mentioned  may  be  a  simple 
matter,  but  it  is  a  puzzling  problem  to  determine  with  cer- 
tainty a  primary  cause  when  two  or  more  factors  are  con- 
cerned. Frequently  the  recognition  of  primary  and  secondary 
causes  is  only  rendered  possible  by  prolonged  observation 
and  experiment,  but  this  certainty  must  be  estabUshed  before 
preventive  measures  can  be  prescribed.  The  most  obvious 
effects  are  not  always  those  caused  by  the  primary  organism, 
and  the  parasitic  status  of  a  fungus  may  have  to  be  proven  by 
inoculations  of  healthy  plants  with  pure  cultures  of  the  sus- 
pected organism.  Work  of  this  nature  may  be  carried  on  in 
laboratories,  greenhouses,  or  in  the  open,  and  when  including 
tests  of  fungicidal  treatments  may  cover  periods  of  months  or 
years.  Especially  is  this  the  case  when  the  object  is  to  estab- 
lish the  comparative  effects  and  values  of  several  fungicides. 

Preparation  necessary 

While  the  botanical  departments  of  all  universities  and  col- 
leges of  high  grade  are  prepared  to  give  pathological  courses, 
during  some  years  when  applications  are  not  made  by  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  pupils  to  render  it  profitable  or  advisable  to 
do  so,  such  courses  are  temporarily  discontinued.  Superior 
opportunities  are  offered  to  women  in  some  coeducational  in- 
stitutions; especially  is  this  the  case  in  State  universities  and 
some  agricultural  experiment  stations. 

Undergraduate  studies  should  include  Latin,  French,  Ger- 
man, general  biology,  organic  chemistry,  general  botany,  and 
especial  attention  should  be  given  to  plant  physiology.  If 
possible  two,  four,  or  more  years  should  be  devoted  to  grad- 
uate work. 

It  is  essential  that  the  investigator  be  well  grounded  in 
plant  physiology  and  be  familiar  with  normal  plant  anatomy 
in  order  to  have  an  intelligent  conception  in  a  given  case  of  a 
possible  cause  of  disease.  There  are  many  ways  in  which  a 
fungus  may  destroy -or  temporarily  disturb  the  normal  func- 
tions of  a  plant. 


THE  PLANT  PATHOLOGIST  435 

To  become  an  assistant  in  plant  pathology  or  mycology- 
according  to  the  standards  required  in  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  calls  for  training  equivalent  to  that 
represented  by  graduation  with  a  degree  from  an  institution 
of  recognized  standing,  with  major  work  in  botany  and  plant 
pathology  or  mycology;  at  least  two  years'  graduate  work, 
or  in  the  absence  of  graduate  work,  practical  experience  re- 
garded as  its  full  equivalent;  and  ability  to  translate  and  write 
Latin  descriptions  and  to  read  French  and  German.  One 
must  be  qualified  to  perform  scientific  work  in  connection 
with  studies  of  the  cause  and  control  of  plant  diseases;  be 
able  to  classify  organisms,  embed,  section,  and  stain  tissues; 
thoroughly  understand  making  pure  cultures  and  inocula- 
tions; to  conduct  greenhouse  and  field  experiments,  and  to 
review  and  abstract  American  and  foreign  literature. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 
(  The  writer  sincerely  wishes  it  could  be  said  that  for  the 
women  pathologists  there  is  always  room  at  the  top.  There  is 
no  such  pleasing  prospect  in  view,  but  the  exceptional  woman 
may  secure  such  a  coveted  position,  and  time  proving  woman's 
efficiency  the  old-fashioned  prejudice  may  be  overcome. 

The  head  of  the  department  of  plant  pathology  in  one 
of  the  leading  coeducational  institutions  writes:  "There  is 
nothing  in  our  university  regulations  or  departmental  practice 
to  bar  women  from  any  position  in  the  staff.  However,  in  our 
department,  the  highest  position  thus  far  held  by  a  woman 
has  been  that  of  an  instructor.  I  should  not  hesitate  to  recom- 
mend a  woman  for  assistant  professor  or  even  professor,  if 
her  qualifications  warranted  it." 

Another  writes:  "As  you  know,  the  demands  for  women 
along  lines  of  instruction  and  investigation  in  plant  pathology 
and  physiology  are  not  so  great  as  for  men.  On  that  account 
I  hesitate  to  encourage  every  woman  who  is  interested  in 
botany  to  go  into  the  work  as  a  profession.  If  they  are  going 
into  the  chemical  aspects  of  the  work,  or  into  the  bacterio- 


436  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

logical  aspect,  there  are  more  opportunities,  inasmuch  as 
boards  of  health  and  the  like  are  demanding  women  workers 
in  larger  number  every  year,  I  think." 

Still  from  another  university  word  comes  that,  "There  are 
no  limits  to  the  positions  open  to  women  in  this  department 
and  the  salaries  paid  them  are  the  same  as  those  paid  to  men 
for  similar  service." 

Another  states:  "The  salaries  offered  to  the  women  as  well 
as  to  the  men  depend  on  the  amount  which  one  has  to  pay  to 
get  talent  which  one  desires  to  get  and  to  retain.  I  have  no 
way  of  knowing  what  the  maximum  would  be  if  the  right 
candidate  presented  herself." 

One  from  an  institution  states:  "The  encouragement  for 
young  women  to  become  heads  of  departments  of  mycology 
and  plant  pathology  is  very  meager,  and  it  seems  to  be  based 
more  on  old-fashioned  ideas  and  training  than  thought.  I 
cannot  see  any  reason  why  a  well-trained  young  woman, 
with  good  discipline  could  not  head  a  department  just  as  well 


Financial  return 

Financial  returns  in  professional  lines  cannot  be  compared 
with  those  of  commercial  activities,  and  this  emphasizes  the 
necessity  of  a  strong  inclination  for  the  former  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  embryo  pathologist. 

A  survey  of  positions  now  occupied  by  women  in  this  line 
does  not  form  a  basis  for  expectation  of  financial  returns  in 
any  way  commensurate  with  the  expenditure  of  time  and 
money  involved  in  this  preparation. 

The  Federal  Government  employs  twenty-nine  women  in 
the  capacity  of  pathologists  and  mycologists.  The  lowest 
entrance  salary  for  assistants  is  $1320;  the  highest  with  ex- 
ecutive duties  is  $2400. 

In  educational  institutions  compensation  for  one  giving 
about  one  half  time  to  laboratory  or  classroom  duties  while 
working  for  an  advanced  degree  ranges  from  $400  to 


THE  PLANT  PATHOLOGIST  437 

but  full-time  assistants  and  instructors  receive  from  $1080  to 
$2700. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  for  success  in  the  main  are  what  must  be 
possessed  by  every  woman  who  seriously  determines  to  pre- 
pare for  a  professional  life.  No  half-hearted  interest  nor  un- 
willingness to  take  infinite  pains  can  find  place  in  this  line 
of  work.  It  must  be  the  absorbing  vocation,  let  one's  avoca- 
tion be  what  it  may.  Hence  one  contemplating  taking  up 
this  study  should  be  a  nature-lover  and  be  deeply  interested 
in  these  special  investigational  problems.  They  call  for  almost 
unlimited  patience;  as  often  a  series  of  tedious  investiga- 
tions may  only  lead  to  negative  results.  One  must  have  a 
wilhngness  to  plod  along,  not  jump  to  conclusions;  the  most 
obvious  symptoms  are  often  misleading  and  by  experiment 
may  be  proved  of  negative  value.  One  must  acquire  skill  in 
all  phases  of  microscopic  technique,  free-hand  sectioning, 
drawing,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  cultural  methods, 
together  with  use  of  laboratory  apparatus. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  main  attraction  for  the  work  must  be  a  keen  and  per- 
manent interest  in  the  subject,  as  the  financial  return  can 
never  be  the  main  asset  in  scientific  work. 

The  disadvantages  may  be  reduced  to  one,  competition 
with  men;  not  that  the  qualifications  of  men  are  necessarily 
superior,  but  that  much  of  the  old-fashioned  prejudice  against 
women  in  professions  still  exists  and  the  popular  demand  is 
still  for  men.  There  is  no  confinement  other  than  an  amount 
usually  associated  with  indoor  employment,  and  the  freedom 
of  movement  necessary  in  laboratory  investigations  reduces 
the  fatigue  and  monotony  of  constant  desk  work. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Anything  approaching  complete  data  as  to  extent  of  occu- 
pation is  manifestly  impossible  without  an  undue  expendi- 


438  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

ture  of  time.  Correspondence  has  been  carried  on  with  about 
forty  professors,  and  as  a  result  of  the  information  received 
there  have  been  located  seventeen  women  engaged  in  the 
pursuit  of  pathological  problems.  The  trend  of  some  of  the 
replies  can  be  gained  from  the  quotations  given. 

Women  employed  in  colleges  are  chiefly  occupied  with  in- 
structional work,  while  the  work  in  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture is  mainly  investigational. 

It  seems  probable  until  a  larger  number  of  thoroughly 
trained  women  have  impressed  college  authorities  with  their 
fitness,  special  increase  in  demand  cannot  be  anticipated.  A 
majority  of  the  better  positions  are  now  in  Western  colleges 
and  State  agricultural  experiment  stations. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  in  1896  probably  but  three 
women  in  this  country  held  pathological  positions,  the  present 
number  of  such  positions  filled  by  women  is  not  discouraging. 

Addenda 

There  exists  a  marked  difference  in  the  question  of  time  be- 
tween employment  by  institutions  and  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. In  the  case  of  the  former  the  period  of  instruction 
is  approximately  nine  months  with  Christmas  and  Easter 
vacations  and  the  sabbatical  year,  also  the  prospect  of  an  ad- 
equate pension  for  old  age;  in  the  Government  service  there  is 
the  annual  leave  of  thirty  days  minus  the  summer,  Christ- 
mas, and  Easter  vacations.  There  is  no  pension  provision  for 
the  superannuation  of  persons  grown  old  in  its  employ.^  Fif- 
teen days*  sick-leave  are  granted  and  thirty  in  extreme  cases 
of  necessity. 

*  Since  the  preparation  of  this  article  there  has  been  passed  a  Govern- 
mental retirement  law  by  which  employees,  after  a  term  of  thirty  years* 
service,  may  receive  a  maximum  pension  of  $720  per  annum. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGIST  439 

THE  PSYCHOLOGIST 

HELEN  T.  WOOLLEY,  Ph.D. 

Director,  Vocation  Bureau,  Cincinnati  Public  Schools 

Description  of  occupation 

The  psychologist  is  one  who  is  versed  in  the  science  of  the 
mind.  In  so  far  as  psychology  represents  a  vocation  other 
than  teaching,  it  deals  with  the  application  of  a  knowledge 
of  mental  processes  to  problems  of  child  training  and  edu- 
cation, of  vocational  guidance,  of  industrial  management, 
and  of  abnormal  mental  states.  The  modern  technique  of 
psychology  involves  a  familiarity  with  the  principles  of  ex- 
perimental psychology,  and  with  a  large  variety  of  mental 
tests. 

Although  psychology  as  a  profession  aside  from  teaching  is 
comparatively  new,  the  field  is  already  considerably  differ- 
entiated. One  branch  of  it  deals  with  the  diagnosis  of  school 
children  and  the  giving  of  educational  advice.  In  this  in- 
stance the  psychologist  deals  primarily  with  school  children 
who  are  for  some  reason  a  problem  to  the  school.  The  use  of 
mental  tests  in  determining  a  mental  level  and  basing  edu- 
cational advice  upon  it  is  an  important  part  of  the  procedure. 
A  school  clinic  also  has  referred  to  it  some  children  who  are 
problems  of  behavior  and  some  who  are  psychopathic.  The 
type  of  work  overlaps,  therefore,  that  of  the  juvenile  court 
clinic,  and  that  of  the  clinic  attached  to  a  psychopathic 
hospital. 

The  juvenile  court  clinic  is  also  interested  in  measuring 
mental  levels  and  in  giving  educational  advice.  The  stress 
of  its  work,  how^ever,  falls  upon  unraveling  the  motives  and 
impulses  which  have  led  to  serious  bad  conduct  in  the  child, 
or  more  frequently  the  adolescent,  and  attempting  to  correct 
the  condition.  Sometimes  direct  mental  treatment  is  all  that 
is  required,  but  more  frequently  a  change  of  environment  is 
also  essential.  The  court  psychologist  must  know  all  the  so- 


440  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

cial  resources  of  his  community  and  be  ready  to  offer  practi- 
cal advice  as  to  what  to  do  with  the  individual  child. 

The  psychologist  who  is  employed  in  a  psychopathic  clinic 
is  primarily  interested  in  abnormal  mental  states.  He  also 
uses  mental  tests  and  determines  mental  levels.  The  test, 
however,  is  often  more  significant  as  a  type  of  reaction  than 
as  a  measure  of  ability.  A  knowledge  of  the  symptoms  of 
mental  disease  is  essential  in  this  branch  of  work. 

The  psychologist  who  is  employed  in  a  placement  oflBce 
or  an  employment  management  oflSce  is  interested  in  using 
mental  measurements  and  diagnoses  as  an  aid  in  advising  the 
individual  with  regard  to  a  choice  of  work,  or  in  picking  out 
from  a  list  of  applicants  those  who  have  a  good  chance  of 
succeeding  in  a  given  line  of  work.  This  field  requires  as 
wide  a  knowledge  as  possible  of  the  demands  of  industry  and 
of  the  various  vocations. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Preparation  for  work  in  psychology  can  be  obtained  at  any 
standard  university  which  maintains  a  psychological  clinic. 
Training  is  chiefly  post-graduate.  For  the  better  positions  in 
the  field  a  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  is  required.  Posi- 
tions as  assistants  can  be  obtained  by  those  who  hold  mas- 
ters' degrees.  The  undergraduate  course  should  place  the 
stress  of  its  electives  on  the  biological  sciences  (biology  and 
physiology),  on  sociology  and  on  education,  in  addition  to 
psychology.  A  sufficient  training  in  mathematics  to  furnish 
a  basis  for  work  in  statistics  is  also  necessary. 

Opj)ortunity  for  advancement 

All  of  the  work  of  the  practicing  psychologist  is  skilled 
work.  Any  one  who  starts  out  with  adequate  training  (a  Pfi.D, 
degree)  and  has  a  suitable  personality  is  sure  of  advance-r 
ment.  It  is  difficult  for  one  who  starts  out  as  an  assistant, 
with  only  a  master's  degree,  to  advance  beyond  that  point 
unless  he  secures  additional  training.  TJie  desirabje  positions 


THE  PSYCHOLOGIST  441* 

in  the  field  are  those  of  director  of  a  psychological  clinic, 
head  of  a  school  bureau  of  vocational  guidance,  or  psychol- 
ogist in  some  large  industrial  plant.  Psychological  clinics  are 
usually  attached  to  some  institution,  such  as  a  university,  a 
public  school  system,  a  court,  or  an  institution  for  the  feeble- 
minded or  insane.  The  type  of  case  dealt  with,  and  accord- 
ingly the  type  of  experience  required,  depends  largely  on  the 
auspices  under  which  the  clinic  is  run;  chances  for  advance- 
ment, therefore,  depend  upon  the  direction  of  specialization. 
Probably  clinics  connected  with  public  school  systems  will 
constitute  the  most  frequent  demand. 

Financial  return 

So  far  there  has  been  a  large  difference  between  the  salaries 
paid  to  men  in  this  field  and  those  paid  to  women.  Few  women 
have  earned  more  than  $2000.  Most  of  them  have  worked 
for  from  $1000  to  $1800.  Men  have  earned  from  $1800  to 
$6000.  The  recent  movement  to  increase  public  school  and 
university  salaries  will  of  course  affect  the  salaries  paid  to 
psychologists. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  profession  requires  a  high  degree  of  native  ability,  a 
scientific  attitude,  and  a  keenness  in  understanding  and  get- 
ting on  with  other  people.  Skill  in  the  technique  of  the  pro- 
fession requires  several  years  of  practice.  A  sound  basis  of 
judgment  comes  only  with  experience.  In  this  respect  the 
profession  is  analogous  to  that  of  medicine. 

Advantages 

The  advantages  of  the  profession  are  those  of  great  variety 
of  problems  and  inexhaustible  interest.  Each  human  being 
or  human  situation  encountered  constitutes  a  new  and  dif- 
ferent type  of  problem.  It  is  a  profession  which  constantly 
brings  into  play  all  the  knowledge  one  possesses  and  con- 
stitutes a  continual  challenge  to  learn  more.  It  is  a  profession 


442  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

in  which  it  is  possible  to  see  and  measure  some  of  the  good 
accomplished. 

Disadvantages 

The  only  disadvantage  is  a  financial  return  which  is  small  in 
view  of  the  preparation  required  and  the  demands  for  time 
and  effort.  The  work  requires  an  amount  of  time  which  often 
seems  disproportionate.  Only  those  who  really  find  satisfac- 
tion in  the  work  itself  should  undertake  it.  Those  who  prac- 
tice psychology  have  little  time  left  to  find  enjoyment  outside 
of  the  profession. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Statistics 

At  present  positions  in  psychology  are  confined  to  cities. 
Most  cities  of  100,000  or  more  have  some  positions  in  psy- 
chology. Public  school  systems,  universities,  juvenile  courts, 
criminal  courts,  and  social  service  organizations  represent  the 
opportunities,  in  the  order  of  frequency.  Some  State  depart- 
ments of  education  are  considering  the  estabUshment  of  a  di- 
vision of  psychology  whose  members  will  be  sent  for  definite 
periods  to  the  smaller  communities  of  the  State  which  can- 
not afford  to  maintain  a  psychological  service  of  their  own. 
No  real  statistics  are  available,  but  a  recent  brief  survey 
brought  to  light  seventy-eight  persons  engaged  in  this  type 
of  work  in  cities  of  100,000  or  more,  most  of  them  in  public 
school  systems.  It  is  safe  to  prophesy  that  the  demand  will 
increase  considerably  during  the  next  few  years.  Up  to  the 
present  time  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  allow  people  who 
were  not  fully  qualified  to  undertake  mental  testing.  The 
result  is  to  reduce  the  number  of  positions  available  for  those 
who  are  really  trained  and  to  discredit  the  work  because  some 
of  it  is  poorly  done. 

Suggested  reading 

** Increasing  Human  EflSciency  in  Business"  —  Walter  Dill 
Scott. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGIST  443 

"The  Measurement  of  Intelligence"  —  Lewis  Terman. 
"The  Intelligence  of  the  School  Child"  —  Lewis  Terman. 
"The  Individual  Delinquent"  —  William  Healy. 
"Mental  Conflicts  and  Misconduct"  —  William  Healy. 
"Handbook  of  Mental  Examination  Methods"  —  Sheppard 
I.  Franz. 


SECRETARIAL  WORK 
THE  EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

ISABELLE  SIMERAL 

Women's  City  Club,  Cleveland 

Description  of  occupation 

The  position  of  executive  secretary  carries  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities which  vary  in  accord  with  the  nature  of  the  organiza- 
tion which  she  serves.  For  convenience  organizations  which 
employ  executive  secretaries  may  be  divided  into  two  classes; 
those  which  exist  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  (commer- 
cial organizations)  and  the  non-money-making  organizations. 
The  purp>ose  of  the  latter  may  be  civic,  social,  political,  edu- 
cational, philanthropic,  religious,  or  a  combination  of  any  of 
these.  They  may  appear  under  the  titles  of  city  clubs,  welfare 
bureaus,  political  associations,  etc.,  but  they  are  alike  in  the 
main,  in  that  their  purpose  is  not  to  make  money  and  that,  as 
a  rule,  they  have  a  fixed  income  or  one  nearly  so. 

The  commercial  organizations  usually  select  their  executive 
secretaries  from  among  those  of  their  stenographers  who, 
through  natural  endowment,  experience  in  the  organization,, 
and  knawledge  plus  judgment  gained  through  that  experience, 
are  deemed  fitted  for  larger  responsibility. 

This  treats  of  the  position  of  executive  secretary  in  the  non- 
commercial type  of  organization. 

The  executive  secretary  has  two  equally  important 
branches  of  work.  The  first  may  be  termed  the  creative; 
the  second,  the  business  management. 

The  creative  side  of  the  work  involves  knowledge,  judg- 
ment, and  vision.  An  executive  secretary  must  have  thorough 
information  concerning  the  field  which  her  organization  cov- 
ers, must  keep  in  touch  with  what  similar  organizations  are 


THE  EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY  445 

doing,  and  must  be  able  to  select  the  "possibilities "  from  their 
organizations  which  can  be  put  into  practical  use  in  her  own 
organization.  In  addition  she  should  be  able  to  make  con- 
structive suggestion  as  to  activities,  plans,  and  policies  appli- 
cable to  the  problems  of  her  individual  organization. 

If  she  has  knowledge  and  experience  in  some  special  field 
not  covered  by  the  standard  requirements  of  the  position, 
that  contribution  should  be  made  to  the  service  of  the  organi- 
zation. 

The  business  management  involves  the  mechanics  of  the 
work.  The  non-commercial  organization  has  usually  a  budget 
system  to  cover  its  annual  expenditures.  The  executive  secre- 
tary should  have  a  voice  in  the  meetings  of  the  finance  or 
budget  committee  in  determining  the  amount  of  the  fixed 
income  which  is  to  be  expended  for  a  given  purpose.  She  then 
should  be  held  responsible  for  keeping  the  expenditures  of  the 
organization  within  the  limits  fixed  except  in  the  case  of 
unforeseen  emergency. 

She  should  be  responsible  for  employing  and  discharging  all 
members  of  the  staff  subject  to  appeal  to  the  governing  board. 

She  should  be  a  member  of  every  committee  of  the  organi- 
zation {ex  officio)  in  order  to  maintain  connection  between  the 
groups  responsible  for  different  phases  of  the  activities  of  the 
organization. 

She  should  be  responsible  for  the  installation  of  records  so 
complete  and  easily  available  that  financial  status,  organiza- 
tion, activities,  membership  records,  etc.,  may  be  known  to 
a  reasonable  degree  of  accuracy  at  any  time. 

She  must  understand  the  fields  covered  by  organizations 
which  touch  her  own  and  must  initiate  and  maintain  coope- 
ration between  them  and  her  own. 

Training  necessary 

A  COLLEGE  education.  Courses  should  be  taken  in  economics, 

sociology,  history,  and  government. 

Knowledge  of  stenography  and  typewriting  is  extremely  de- 


446  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

sirable,  though  not  perhaps  essential.  It  is  becoming,  how- 
ever, more  and  more  in  demand. 

Training  in  a  good  secretarial  school  for  two  years  or  for  one 
year,  with  at  least  a  year  post-graduate  college  work,  is  very 
desirable. 

Volunteer  service  in  some  of  the  welfare  or  social  service 
organizations  is  very  valuable. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  field  for  women  is  a  comparatively  new  one.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  here,  as  in  other  fields  of  work,  the  op- 
portunity for  advancement  is  limited  only  by  the  ability  of  the 
individual.  The  opportunities  may  not  develop  within  any 
one  organization,  but  considering  the  field  as  a  whole,  there  is 
large  opportunity  and  great  promise  for  future  development. 

Financial  return 

Salaries  average  from  $1200  to  $4000  in  accord  with  training 

and  experience. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  executive  secretary  has  special  advantage  when  she  is 
endowed  with  breadth  of  view,  with  a  sense  of  humor,  natural 
courtesy,  great  patience  and  poise,  and  an  ability  to  deal  with 
all  types  of  people.  She  must  be  able  to  make  quick  judgments 
when  necessary  and  be  ready  to  deal  with  emergencies.  She 
must  be  able  to  delegate  authority. 

Experience  will  enable  her  to  keep  the  machinery  of  her 
work  moving  without  confusion.  Much  can  be  learned  only 
through  individual  experience  in  the  peculiar  features  of  any 
one  position,  and  the  experience  of  another  is  useless  in  point- 
ing the  way. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  such  work  lie  in  the  stimulus  of  creating 
machinery  to  accomplish  definite  pieces  of  work  and  contacts 
with  people. 


THE  MULTIGRAPHER  447 

The  disadvantages  are  the  hours  which,  while  not  excessive, 
must  at  times  be  irregular,  the  nerve  strain  which  positions  of 
this  type  involve,  and  the  fact  that  the  development  in  the 
work  done  is  at  times  very  slow;  i.e.,  that  it  is  not  possible  at 
all  times  to  see  how  much  has  been  gained. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  field  is  not  as  yet  overrun  with  applicants.  It  is  steadily 

becoming  a  more  popular  work  with  women.    It  requires 

many  things  and  for  that  reason  will  not  so  soon  become 

overcrowded. 

THE  MULTIGRAPHER 

MRS.  F.  S.  RCX)T 
F.  S.  Root  Company,  Business  Publicity  Specialists 

Description  of  occupation 

Setting  forms  in  type  and  operating  a  multigraph  machine; 

breaking  up  the  forms,  i.e.,  distributing  the  type. 

In  business  houses  where  the  forms  to  be  printed  are  all  on 
one  subject,  with  little  variation  in  form  of  set-ups,  style,  and 
grades  of  paper  used,  a  merely  mechanical  operator  can  han- 
dle the  work,  unless  other  kinds  of  work  are  combined  in  that 
department. 

In  a  public  office  handling  mail  advertising  and  all  kinds  of 
multigraphing,  every  subject  comes  in  copy  and  requires  being 
set  in  proper  form,  proof-read  and  guaranteed  correct  as  to 
English,  grammar,  spelling,  punctuation,  perfect  type,  even- 
ness of  color  in  printing,  proper  position  on  paper,  and  numer- 
ous other  details. 

Financial  returns 

Minimum  $9  while  learning;  $12  to  $15  usual;  $20  up,  where 

one  is  superintendent  and  able  to  carry  responsibility. 

A  woman  capable  of  superintending  these  details,  laying 
out  the  work,  and  superintending  the  operators  should  be 
worth  $25  a  week,  or  more,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plant. 


448  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Quickness  of  motion  is  desirable,  but  not  necessary;  good 
eyesight;  a  small  amount  of  mechanical  ability  plus  patience 
and  perseverance;  a  good  English  education;  a  large  vocabu- 
lary combined  with  a  knowledge  of  grammar,  spelling,  and 
punctuation. 

Advantages 

Usual  clerical  conditions. 

Disadvantages 
Possible  strain  on  eyes. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  is  greater  than  the  supply. 

Suggested  reading 

Any  kind  of  reading  is  beneficial,  as  it  increases  one's  knowl- 
edge of  English. 

THE  PRIVATE  SECRETARY 

BELLE  S.  ROBERTS 

Secretary  to  the  Honorable  Herbert  Quick,  U.S.  Department  of  the  Interior 

Description  of  occupation 

In  one  respect  the  position  of  private  secretary  may  be  likened 
unto  boys,  or  pipe-organs,  or  sunsets;  there  are  no  two  ahke! 
Wordsworth's  definition  of  the  ** perfect  woman," 

*'  The  reason  firm,  the  temperate  will. 
Endurance,  foresight,  strength,  and  skill," 

also  applies  to  the  private  secretary.  She  might  also  be  de- 
fined as  being  her  employer's  second  self  in  his  realm  of  busi- 
ness. She  should  be  able  to  handle  all  his  correspondence 
except  that  requiring  decisions  of  policy  or  rulings;  receive  and 
dismiss  in  good  humor  callers  of  every  kind,  including  cranks. 


THE  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  449 

charity  solicitors,  and  others;  make  and  fill  appointments  for 
both  herself  and  employer;  prepare  itineraries  if  he  travels; 
handle  his  personal  money  matters  if  requested;  remind  him 
of  his  engagements;  anticipate  his  requirements;  assemble 
material  and  data  relating  to  whatever  work  he  is  engaged  in; 
do  library  and  other  research  work;  understand  oflSce  files  and 
filing;  have  an  ability  to  work  with  or  manage  stenographers 
and  clerks;  dictate  letters  and  other  matter;  and  in  fact  be 
able  to  do  anything  that  will  relieve  her  employer  for  higher 
executive,  administrative,  or  constructive  work. 

The  ideal  private  secretary  should  possess  an  abundance  of 
common  sense,  loyalty,  tact,  diplomacy,  initiative,  energy, 
health;  a  memory  for  names,  faces,  facts,  dates,  and  events; 
an  ability  to  vanish  or  reappear  on  the  scene  instantly.  The 
acquired  qualifications  necessary  depend  upon  the  character 
of  the  work.  The  duties  of  the  lawyer's  private  secretary  differ 
from  those  of  the  lecturer,  insurance  official,  manufacturer, 
college  president,  or  department-store  merchant.  She  should 
also  understand  the  subjects  that  have  direct  relation  to  the 
business  of  her  employer.  Stenography  and  typewriting  are 
the  usual  first  stepping-stones  in  this  work. 

preparation  necessary 

Schools  and  textbooks  have  their  rightful  place,  but  only  by 
actual  doing  can  one  become  an  efficient  and  valuable  private 
secretary.  Books  and  schools  are  merely  guide-posts  in  this 
vocation  as  in  all  others. 

The  following  schools  are  among  the  largest  which  include 
secretarial  courses  in  their  curricula^  Simmons  College,  Bos- 
ton; Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology,  Pittsburgh;  Ro^iJ^:^d 
College,  Rockford,  Illinois;  Columbia  University,  New  York; 
University  of  Chicago,  Chicago;  Drexel  Institute,  Philadel- 
phia; Temple  University,  Philadelphia;  and  Russell  Sage 
College  of  Practical  Arts,  Troy,  New  York.  Stenography, 
typewriting,  bookkeeping,  filing,  indexing,  and  the  elements 
of  common  and  business  law  cover  the  necessary  groundwork. 


450  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  advancement  depend  somewhat  on  the 
character  of  the  business  of  the  man  or  woman  for  whom  one  is 
private  secretary  and  also  upon  natural  inclination.  In  one 
instance  a  young  woman  who  advanced  from  stenographer  in 
a  banker's  office  to  his  private  secretary  became  a  dealer  in 
farm  mortgages  and  is  to-day  a  real-estate  broker.  Another 
private  secretary  whose  employer  was  a  writer  and  editor  of 
national  note  is  now  doing  editorial  work  for  an  important 
bureau  in  the  United  States  Government  service.  Another, 
who  several  years  ago  was  selling  her  services  as  a  private 
secretary  is  now  selling  bonds  for  a  New  York  house  and  mak- 
ing thousands  of  dollars  where  she  used  to  make  hundreds. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  for  private  secretarial  work,  considering 
the  qualifications  required,  is  not  generally  very  attractive. 
Until  lately  it  has  been  considered  a  man's  position,  and  if  a 
woman  wanted  to  enter  that  field  she  had  to  enter  on  a 
woman's  salary  basis  and  work  her  way  up.  Especially  is  this 
true  to-day  in  Government  service.  In  a  bureau  established 
a  number  of  years  ago  the  private  secretaries  were  scheduled 
at  $2500  per  annum,  their  employers  receiving  $10,000.  One 
of  the  secretaries  happened  to  be  a  woman.  By  the  next 
fiscal  year  Congress  had  reduced  the  salaries  of  those  private 
secretaries  to  $2000  each,  and  they  will  remain  at  that  figure 
indefinitely.  It  would  seem  that  if  a  man  is  worth  a  $10,000 
or  a  $15,000  salary,  a  competent  private  secretary  to  such 
a  man,  who  must  be  almost  his  second  self,  should  be  worth  at 
least  a  third  of  those  figures. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Advantages  are  also  dependent,  in  a  measure,  upon  location 
and  environment.  Larger  cities  naturally  have  the  larger 
opportunities.  To  one  who  enjoys  people,  learning  of  their 
plans,  ambitions,  triumphs,  disappointments,  and  the  almost 


THE  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  451 

innumerable  phases  of  human  Hfe,  secretarial  work  is  fasci- 
nating, and  may  often  lead  to  pleasant  and  profitable  business 
connections,  besides  in  itself  being  a  liberal  education. 

Disadvantages  also  depend  upon  persons  and  conditions. 
Often  a  secretary's  busiest  hours  may  be  from  3  to  7  or 
8  P.M.,  her  employer  having  been  engaged  in  conferences,  or 
otherwise,  earlier  in  the  day.  Prolonged  absences  from  the 
office  may  bring  heavy  pressure  and  overtime,  but  as  lulls 
usually  follow  these  avalanches  of  hard  work  and  overtime, 
a  happy  balance  comes  in  a  short  time. 

Reading 

"Lady  Clerks  and  Secretaries"  —  T.  W.  Berry.  In  his  "Pro- 
fessions for  Girls,"  pp.  86-90.  London,  T.  F.  Unwin,  1909. 

"How  to  Become  a  Private  Secretary"  —  Sherwin  Cody. 
Chicago,  School  of  EngHsh,  1913.  256  pp. 

"The  Junior  Woman  Secretary.  A  Guide  to  the  Secretarial 
Profession  for  Girls  and  Young  Women"  —  Annie  Davis. 
London,  Sir  I.  Pitman  &  Sons,  Ltd.   (1914.^)  92  pp. 

"The  Private  Secretary"  —  Enoch  Burton  Gowin  and 
William  Alonzo  Wheatley.  In  their  "Occupations,'' 
pp.  284-85.  Boston,  New  York,  Ginn  &  Co.,  1916. 

"Secretarial  Work  " — Jessica  Louise  Marcley.  In  "  Vocations 
Open  to  College  Women,"  pp.  29-30.  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  University  of  Minnesota. 

"The  Education  of  the  Amanuensis  "  —  Selby  A.  Moran.  In 
National  Education  Association,  Journal  of  Proceedings 
and  Addresses,  1902,  pp.  691-96. 

"Secretarial  Work  and  Practice"  —  Alfred  Nixon  and 
George  H.  Richardson.  New  ed.  New  York,  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  1911. 

"ClericaJ  and  Secretarial  Work"  —  In  "Vocations  for  the 
Trained  Woman,"  pp.  201-14 — Agnes  F.  Perkins,  ed.  Bos- 
ton, Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union,  1910. 

"Opportunities  for  Women  in  Secretarial  Service"  —  Mar- 
garet A.  Post.   In  "  Vocations  for  the  Trained  Woman," 


452  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

pp.  109-43  —  Eleanor  Martin  and  Margaret  A.  Post. 
New  York,  London,  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1914. 

"  Women  Clerks  and  Secretaries"  —  Mrs.  Elspeth  K.  R.  Scott. 
In  "Women  Workers  in  Seven  Professions,"  pp.  280-97, 
edited  by  Edith  J.  Morley.  London,  G.  Routledge  & 
Sons;  New  York,  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  1914. 

"The  Efficient  Secretary  "  —  Ellen  Lane  Spencer.  New  York, 
F.  A.  Stokes  Company,  1916.   192  pp. 

THE  PUBLIC  STENOGRAPHER 
JESSIE  M.  SHERWOOD 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  the  public  stenographer  is  infinite  in  its  variety, 
ranging  from  business  correspondence  and  lectures  taken  in 
shorthand,  editing  work  that  is  submitted  by  various  cus- 
tomers, taking  dictation  directly  on  the  typewriter,  writing 
advertising  matter,  and  sending  out  such  matter  complete, 
from  the  writing  of  the  letter  to  the  folding,  sealing,  stamping, 
and  mailing  of  the  finished  piece. 

In  addition  to  the  typewriter,  which  is  so  closely  associated 
by  the  general  public  with  this  vocation,  there  are  several 
other  much-used  office  appliances  with  which  it  is  essential 
to  be  familiar.  They  comprise  the  multigraph,  mimeograph, 
sealing  and  stamping  machines. 

Advertising  matter  —  issued  in  large  quantities  —  is  done 
on  the  multigraph,  which  has  the  capacity  to  produce  any 
number  of  clear-cut  copies,  equal  to  typewritten  matter. 
Forms  in  very  limited  quantities  may  be  produced  on  the 
mimeograph,  although  neither  the  process  nor  the  result  is  as 
satisfactory  as  the  multigraph. 

Training  necessary 

A  COLLEGE  education,  though  not  a  necessity  for  this  voca- 
tion, is  an  asset,  since  it  tends  to  broaden  the  mind  which  is 
capable  of  being  broadened.  A  high-schopl  education,  how- 


THE  PUBLIC  STENOGRAPHER  453 

ever,  is  indispensable,  preferably  the  college  preparatory 
course,  followed  by  a  thorough  business  college  training;  the 
former  for  general  intellectual  background,  and  the  latter  for 
training  in  office  methods  and  definite  practice  in  the  machines 
already  mentioned.  In  addition,  unless  some  unusual  oppor- 
tunity presents  itself,  it  might  be  well  to  work  for  a  year  in 
the  office  of  some  public  stenographer  before  entering  busi- 
ness on  one's  own  account. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

In  order  to  make  a  success  of  this  work  there  are  certain  nat- 
ural characteristics  which  should  be  in  the  possession  of 
every  one  engaged  in  the  calling.  The  natural  inheritance  of 
good  health  is  priceless;  an  even  temper,  the  power  of  adapta- 
bility and  concentration,  an  alert  mind,  tact,  and  the  capac- 
ity to  inspire  and  hold  the  confidence  of  one's  patrons  are  all 
essentials;  while  speed,  accuracy,  and  breadth  of  view  should 
be  acquired.  Information  coming  into  the  possession  of  a 
public  stenographer  must  be  regarded  as  strictly  confidential; 
otherwise  she  will  be  constantly  involved  in  undignified  and 
difficult  tangles. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Every  occupation  has  its  advantages  and  disadvantages. 
Among  the  disadvantages  for  the  public  stenographer  are  the 
long  hours  of  confinement  in  the  office.  While  it  does  not 
often  happen,  one  must  be  ready  to  work  continuously  thirty- 
six  hours  if  it  becomes  necessary  in  some  special  case.  From 
day  to  day  one  never  knows  what  will  happen,  what  new 
phase  the  work  will  develop.  For  this  reason  it  is  impossible 
to  standardize  the  hours  of  labor. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  the  work  is  the  opportunity  for 
broadening  the  mind  through  contact  with  persons  of  many 
interests.  Perhaps  the  greatest  advantage  of  all  is  the  feeling 
of  independence  which  comes  in  working  for  one's  self. 

Another  advantage  is  that  there  is  opportunity  of  large 


454  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

financial  return,  depending  upon  the  sales  ability  and  quality 
of  service  rendered,  plus  the  exercise  of  good  business  judg- 
ment in  the  matter  of  collections  and  extension  of  credits. 

Supply  and  demand 

Competition  is  at  present  very  keen.  There  is  always  a  de- 
mand for  high-grade  service,  but  it  is  not  a  business  to  enter 
unless  one  is  willing  to  throw  her  whole  heart  and  energy  into 
the  work.  It  is  no  field  for  the  weak-hearted  or  timid. 

Reading 

The  office  that  can  add  the  writing  of  good  advertising  to  its 
list  of  accomplishments  has  much  the  better  chance  for  large 
financial  return,  and  for  this  side  of  activity,  perhaps  the  fol- 
lowing books  will  be  of  assistance  to  the  progressive  public 
stenographer : 

**An  Approach  to  Business  Problems"  —  Arch  Wilkinson 

Shaw,  A.M.    University  Press,  Cambridge,  Massacliu- 

setts. 
"Some  Problems  in  Market  Distribution"  —  Arch  Wilkinson 

Shaw,  A.M.  University  Press,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
"Advertising  as  a  Business  Force  "  —  Paul  Terry  Cherington. 

Doubleday  &  Page  Co.,  Boston. 
"The  First  Advertising  Book"  —  Paul  Terry  Cherington. 

Doubleday  &  Page  Co.,  Boston. 
"The  New  Business"  —  Harry  Tipper.   Doubleday  &  Page 

Co.,  Boston. 
"The  Economics  of  Retailing"  — Paul  H.  Nystrom,  Ph.D. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
"Retail  Selling"  — Fisk. 
"Advertising  —  Selling  the  Consumer"  —  John  Lee  Mahin. 

Doubleday  &  Page  Co.,  Boston. 
"Advertising"  —  Daniel  Starch.    Scott,  Foresman    &  Co., 

New  York. 
"Scientific    Sales    Management"  —  Charles    Wilson    Hoyt. 

Geo.  B.  Woolson  &  Co.,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 


THE  SHORTHAND  REPORTER  455 

"Advertising  and  Selling"  —  Harry  L.  HoUingworth.  D.  Ap- 

pleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
"Influencing  Men  in  Business"  —  Walter  Dill  Scott,  Ph.D. 

The  Ronald  Press  Co.,  New  York. 
"Writing  an  Advertisement"  —  S.  Ronald  Hall.   Houghton 

Mifflin  Company,  Boston. 
"Principles  of  Advertising  Arrangement"  —  Frank  Alvah 

Parsons.  The  Prang  Company,  Boston. 
"How  to  Make  Type  Talk"  —  Barnard  J.  Lewis.  The  Stet- 
son Press,  Inc.,  Boston. 
"Making  Type  Work"  —  Benjamin  Sherbow.  The  Century 

Company,  New  York. 
"Elements  of  Statistical  Method"  —  Willford  I.  King,  M.A. 

The  Macmillan  Company,  New  York. 
In  the  line  of  general  reading,  perhaps  the  "National  Geo- 
graphic Magazine"  is  a  valuable  one  among  periodicals,  as  it 
furnishes  diversified  information  needed  in  the  preparation  of 
papers  of  the  scientist,  and  reading  articles  in  some  of  the 
best  trade  magazines  is  also  helpful. 

General 

Any  one  considering  the  vocation  of  a  public  stenographer 
should  also  bear  in  mind  that  cash  capital  is  necessary  — 
perhaps  $1500  would  cover  the  expense  of  fitting  an  office  for 
a  small  business  —  and  in  addition  one  should  have  a  reserve 
upon  which  to  draw  during  the  period  in  which  one  is  de- 
veloping the  business. 

THE  SHORTHAND  REPORTER 
NELLIE  WOOD  FREEMAN  ^ 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  the  shorthand  reporter  is  to  take  down,  verbatim, 
words  as  they  fall  from  the  lips  of  speakers  and  to  transcribe 
the  same  accurately  into  type. 
*  Mrs.  Freeman  (formerly  Miss  Nellie  Margaret  Wood)  for  several  years 


456  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Out  of  the  great  army  of  stenographers,  very  few,  not  more 
than  one  in  a  thousand,  become  shorthand  reporters.  To  be- 
come an  eflScient  reporter,  in  addition  to  certain  natural 
capacities,  requires  years  of  training.  Much  greater  speed  in 
shorthand  is  necessary  than  in  office  work,  and  famiharity 
with  technical  terms  of  all  kinds  is  essential. 

The  majority  of  shorthand  reporters  in  the  United  States 
are  employed  in  our  State  and  Federal  courts,  where  the  pro- 
ceedings at  trials  are  reported  verbatim.  These  reporters  are 
usually  designated  as  official  stenographers,  being  sworn  offi- 
cers of  the  court.  To  make  a  verbatim  report  of  the  rapid 
questioning  of  attorneys,  the  replies  of  the  witness,  the  inter- 
rupting remarks  of  counsel,  and  the  rulings  and  charge  of  the 
court  to  the  jury,  requires  a  skilled  hand  and  a  trained  brain. 
Often  the  decision  of  a  case  rests  upon  the  stenographic  re- 
port, and  it  is  to  the  stenographer's  notes  that  court  and 
counsel  turn  to  find  what  was  actually  said. 

Many  of  the  cases  reported  are  never  written  out,  the  de- 
cision of  the  judge  or  jury  finally  disposing  of  them;  but  so 
many  are  transcribed  that  the  stenographer  is  kept  busy 
making  transcripts  while  not  in  court.  The  transcript  is  made 
in  several  ways.  Many  reporters  use  the  business  phonograph 
or  dictaphone,  dictating  from  their  notes  into  these  useful  ma- 
chines. The  matter  is  later  transcribed  by  typists.  Other  re- 
porters dictate  their  notes  directly  to  the  typewriter  operator, 
or  do  their  own  typing.  A  few  are  fortunate  enough  to  have 
typists  who  are  also  stenographers  and  have  been  trained  to 
read  the  reporter's  shorthand  notes.  Whatever  method  is 
used,  however,  it  is  very  necessary  that  the  reporter  read 
over  the  transcript  carefully  before  delivering  it,  as  the  report, 
so  far  as  lies  in  her  power,  must  be  absolutely  accurate. 

Besides  the  reporters,  whose  official  duties  in  the  courts 
require  all  their  time,  there  are  in  every  large  city  general 

held  the  mternational  record  for  speed  and  accuracy,  her  record  being  274 
words  a  mmute.  She  is  the  holder  of  several  cups  and  medals  for  rapid  and 
accurate  work,  and  now  holds  the  highest  record  of  any  woman  shorthand 
nmter. 


THE  SHORTHAND  REPORTER  457 

shorthand  reporters,  who  not  only  report  occasional  cases  m 
court,  but  do  a  great  variety  of  shorthand  reporting,  such  as 
the  proceedings  of  legislative  bodies,  conventions,  meetings 
of  various  societies,  inquests,  hearings  before  arbitrators, 
petty  magistrates,  pubUc  service  commissions,  etc. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

At  least  a  high-school  education  or  its  equivalent,  with  spe- 
cial attention  to  English  and  languages.  A  thorough  training 
in  a  good  system  of  shorthand  under  a  good  teacher.  There 
are  many  schools  in  all  parts  of  the  country  where  such  train- 
ing is  given.  As  to  systems  of  shorthand,  the  so-called  Pit- 
manic  systems  are  used  by  the  majority  of  successful  report- 
ers. They  may  be  more  difficult  to  learn  than  the  "short-cut" 
systems,  but  are  capable  of  greater  speed  and  legibility. 

A  knowledge  of  Latin  is  of  great  assistance,  as  so  many  of 
our  English  words  are  derived  from  that  language  and  many 
Latin  terms  are  used  in  legal  proceedings. 

After  having  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  art  of 
shorthand  writing,  it  is  well,  if  one  has  reporting  in  view,  to 
enter  the  office  of  a  good  law  firm,  where  opportunity  is 
afforded  to  learn  the  legal  phraseology  and  the  methods  of 
court  procedure,  and  possibly  to  take  depositions  and  report 
hearings  for  the  firm.  Then  after  some  years  of  experience,  if 
sufficient  speed  has  been  developed,  she  is  ready  to  try  the 
work  of  the  official  court  reporter. 

Financial  return 

Shorthand  reporting  is  among  the  better-paid  professions 
for  women  and  has  the  advantage  of  being  an  occupation 
where  the  salary  is  the  same  for  both  sexes,  ranging  from  $5 
to  $25  a  day,  in  different  States,  for  work  in  the  court-room, 
with  additional  fees  for  transcripts  varying  from  a  few  hun- 
dred to  several  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Some  of  the  general 
reporters  receive  from  $5000  to  $10,000  a  year. 


458  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Qualifications 

Only  those  with  strong  constitutions  should  attempt  this 
work,  for  it  is  a  great  mental  and  physical  strain.  While  the 
actual  hours  in  court  as  a  rule  are  comparatively  short,  one 
works  at  high  tension  during  that  time,  and  all  transcribing 
must  be  done  after  court  hours,  which  means  often  working 
far  into  the  night  for  days  and  weeks  at  a  time. 

Shorthand  reporting  requires  an  alert  mind  to  grasp  and 
sense  things  quickly,  for  the  shorthand  reporter  is  by  no  means 
an  automaton,  but  should  understand  everything  that  is  said 
in  order  to  make  an  accurate  report.  A  keen  sense  of  hearing 
is  also  essential.  She  must  be  strictly  honest  and  conscien- 
tious, with  the  qualification  attributed  to  genius,  "an  infinite 
capacity  for  taking  pains."  She  should  also  possess  tact  and 
discretion. 

A  speed  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  words  a  minute  on 
difficult  matter  and  two  hundred  or  more  on  easier  matter  is 
required.  It  is  necessary  that  she  be  so  familiar  with  her  short- 
hand system  that  it  is  literally  at  her  fingers'  ends.  She  must 
keep  calm  and  cool  under  all  circumstances,  no  matter  how 
heated  the  colloquy  in  a  court-room  or  in  a  political  debate, 
where  two  or  three  persons  may  be  talking  at  the  same  time. 

She  should  have  the  knowledge  acquired  by  wide  reading, 
keep  pace  with  current  events,  and  have  at  least  a  bowing 
acquaintance  with  all  kinds  of  technical  terms;  for  in  the 
court-room  she  will  be  called  upon  to  report  the  medical  testi- 
mony of  the  physician,  the  technical  terms  of  the  architect, 
the  mechanical  expert,  the  electrician,  and  of  every  profession 
and  calling  under  the  sun.  She  must  also  report  understand- 
ingly  the  broken  patois  of  the  foreigner. 

While  proceedings  in  court  are  taken  verbatim  et  literatim, 
in  reporting  public  addresses  it  is  often  necessary  to  edit  the 
remarks  of  the  speaker,  and  one  should  have  sufficient  knowl- 
edge of  English  to  do  this  properly.  There  are  people  who 
speak  fluently  and  well  and  whose  remarks  do  not  need  edit- 
ing, but  they  are  rare. 


THE  SHORTHAND  REPORTER  459 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  the  shorthand  reporter  should 
be  a  good  speller. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Reporting  keeps  the  mind  alert  and  one  is  constantly  adding 
to  her  store  of  knowledge  in  a  multiplicity  of  lines.  One  also 
has  the  feeling  that  she  is  having  a  part  in  the  progress  of  the 
world  and  many  times  recording  history  which  might  other- 
wise be  lost. 

Reporters  in  the  courts  usually  have  a  Hberal  vacation  of 
from  one  to  three  months  a  year  with  salary;  while  the  general 
reporter  is  mistress  of  her  own  time  and  usually  earns  enough 
during  the  busier  season  of  the  year  to  afford  a  much-needed 
vacation. 

The  hours  are  long  and  the  work  confining.  Physical  exer- 
cise must  be  obtained  outside  of  working  hours.  While  at 
times  very  interesting,  the  work  is  often  monotonous  and 
tiring,  and  the  transcribing  often  becomes  drudgery. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  approximately  three  thousand  shorthand  report- 
ers in  the  United  States.  They  are  employed  in  all  our  State 
and  Federal  trial  courts  and  every  large  city  has  several 
general  reporters. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  eflScient  shorthand  reporters  is  constantly 
increasing.  Not  only  are  more  courts  necessary  with  the  in- 
crease in  population  and  the  industrial  development  of  the 
country,  but  the  use  of  stenographic  reports  has  been  extended 
in  many  ways,  so  that  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
women  who  have  fitted  themselves  for  this  work  find  constant 
and  lucrative  employment. 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Shorthand  Writer"  —  a  nionthly  magazine  published 
in  Chicago. 


460  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 


« 


The  Stenographic  Expert"  —  Willard  B.  Bottome,  New 
York  City. 

"Speed  and  Legibility"  —  Clarence  E.  Walker. 

"The  Essence  and  Art  of  Phrase-Making"  —  David  Wolfe 
Brown. 

Proceedings  of  the  National  Shorthand  Reporters'  Associa- 
tion. 

Proceedings  of  the  New  York  State  Shorthand  Reporters* 
Association. 


SOCIAL  WORK 

ANALYSIS  AND  TREATMENT  OF  BEHAVIOR 
PROBLEMS  IN  CHILDREN 

JESSIE  TAFT,  Ph.D. 

Director,  Department  of  Child  Study  of  Seybert  Institution,  Philadelphia 

Description  of  occupation 

This  work  may  be  done  as  case  work  by  the  visiting  teacher 
or  worker  with  dependents  or  delinquents;  it  may  be  done  by 
the  teacher  who  uses  the  school  as  a  method  of  treatment,  or 
by  the  psychologist  who  acts  as  advisor  to  the  children's 
worker  or  parent.  It  is  dependent  on  the  presence  of  medical 
and  psychiatric  resources  for  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of 
physical  and  neurological  factors  if  such  are  present. 

The  understanding  of  behavior  in  children  involves  a  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  function  and  importance  of  instinct  and 
emotion  in  human  life,  the  methods  of  altering  behavior,  and 
the  meaning  of  various  kinds  of  behavior  which  can  be  learned 
chiefly  through  the  principles  of  mental  hygiene  and  the  psy- 
chiatric approach  to  behavior.  Given  such  a  point  of  view, 
the  actual  procedure  is  to  get  as  intimate  a  first-hand  acquaint- 
ance with  the  child  as  possible.  A  good  social  history  of  the 
child's  physical  and  personal  development,  his  heredity  and 
family  setting,  must  be  obtained.  A  thorough  physical  exam- 
ination must  be  used  to  determine  the  possible  physical  fac- 
tors. Mental  tests,  including  both  general  intelligence  tests 
and  performance  tests,  are  then  given  to  determine  the  intel- 
lectual equipment  and  special  abilities  or  disabilities.  This  is 
followed  by  interviews  with  the  child  and  a  close  follow-up 
of  his  behavior  from  day  to  day,  either  under  direct  or  in- 
direct supervision.  The  environment  in  the  home  neighbor- 
hood or  school  must  be  readjusted  suflSciently  to  allow  of  ex- 


462  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

periments  with  new  activities,  interests,  etc.,  likely  to  im- 
prove behavior.  The  effect  of  a  change  of  attitude  toward  the 
child  on  the  part  of  adults  must  be  tried.  The  full  effect  of 
free  expression,  the  talking-out  of  difficulties,  and  a  sense  of 
understanding  approval  and  lack  of  condemnation  must  be 
obtained  for  the  child.  By  direct  case  work,  or  supervision  of 
another's  case  work,  the  great  effort  must  be  to  find  lines  of 
activity  in  which  the  child  can  experience  success  and 
approval. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

Theke  is  no  one  place  that  is  now  training  for  just  the  kind 
of  work  described.  The  schools  for  social  work  which  give 
courses  in  social  psychiatry  and  psychiatric  social  work  per- 
haps come  the  nearest  to  the  required  training,  particularly 
if  their  courses  are  taken  after  good  preparation  in  science, 
psychology,  and  sociology. 

The  schools  giving  the  best  of  such  training  are  the  New 
York  School  of  Social  Work,  the  Pennsylvania  School  for 
Social  Service,  Philadelphia,  the  Smith  School  of  Social  Work, 
Northampton,  Massachusetts,  and  the  Boston  School  for  So- 
cial Service.  The  advantage  of  such  training  over  that  given  in 
the  psychology  departments  of  the  colleges  is  that  case  work, 
theory  and  practice,  which  is  fundamental,  is  also  given. 

If  the  emphasis  is  placed  on  psychology  a  doctor's  degree 
is  recommended.  Columbia  University,  New  York  Univer- 
sity, University  of  Pennsylvania,  Johns  Hopkins,  and  Clark 
University  have  perhaps  the  most  practical  courses  to  offer 
with  clinical  experience.^  A  year  is  sufficient  for  training  if 
emphasis  is  to  be  on  case  work,  provided  previous  prepara- 
tion is  adequate.  While  a  college  degree  is  not  essential,  an 
understanding  of  the  scientific  experimental  approach  to 
problems  gained  from  biology  and  other  laboratory  sciences, 
familiarity  with  the  theory  of  evolution,  good  grounding  in 

^  This  list  is  not  exhaustive  and  mentions  only  those  courses  with  which 
the  writer  happens  to  be  familiar. 


TREATMENT  OF  BEHAVIOR  PROBLEMS     463 

psychology  and  sociology,  and  some  appreciation  of  the 
meaning  of  education  and  the  psychology  of  educational 
processes  are  required. 

Recommended  undergraduate  courses  are  physiology  and 
hygiene,  biology,  general  and  experimental  psychology,  men- 
tal testing,  psychology  or  history  of  education,  philosophy, 
ethics,  sociology,  or  social  psychology. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

Advancement  depends  entirely  on  ability  of  the  worker  and 

the  opportunity  of  the  particular  position. 

Financial  return 

The  salary  is  that  to  be  obtained  for  specialized  case  work,  or 
clinical  psychology,  depending  on  the  professional  equipment 
and  ability  which  the  worker  possesses.  A  worker  with  a  doc- 
tor's degree  or  equivalent,  if  an  able  person,  can  command 
a  salary  of  $2000  to  $3000.  An  expert  case  worker  can  get 
$1500  to  $2000.  Psychiatric  workers  can  command  from 
$1800  to  $2500. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Intellectual  ability  above  the  average.  Genuine  liking  for 
children  and  an  interest  in  the  personal  problems  of  others. 
An  optimistic,  positive  attitude  toward  life.  Ability  to  inspire 
confidence  in  others  and  to  make  social  contacts  easily. 
Patience  and  psychological  insight.  Emotional  maturity  and 
an  understanding  of  the  sex  instinct  and  its  development. 

Training  in  case  work,  clinical  experience,  either  psychologi- 
cal or  psychiatric,  or  teaching  experience  in  a  real  school 
based  on  modern  theories  of  education  and  psychology,  par- 
ticularly kindergarten  experience.  Such  schools  as  the  Play 
School  in  New  York,  Horace  Mann,  Ethical  Culture,  etc. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

Work  is  never  mechanical  or  routine.    It  affords  the  most 

interesting  contacts  with  people;  it  always  provides  new,  un- 


464  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

solved  problems;  it  opens  out  into  such  a  variety  of  possibil- 
ities as  to  its  actual  form. 

There  are  no  disadvantages  except  the  intensity  and  nerv- 
ous strain  of  work  with  human  beings  in  trouble.  It  means 
a  continual  giving-out  of  interest,  understanding,  and  sym- 
pathy, and  an  endless  patience.  This  is  compensated  for  by 
the  stimulus  which  the  work  gives.  It  is  probably  better 
suited  to  the  steady,  rather  phlegmatic  temperament. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  is  a  great  demand  for  workers  trained  to  do  this  type 
of  case  work,  particularly  in  the  East,  but  with  an  increasing 
growth  in  the  West. 

At  the  present  moment  such  a  worker  is  in  demand  in: 

A.  Psychiatric  social  work: 

Hospitals  with  psychiatric  clinics. 
Mental  hygiene  societies. 
Red  Cross  —  home  service. 
Hospitals  for  mental  disease. 

B.  Child-placing  agencies. 

C.  Mental  clinics. 

D.  Visiting  teacher  work  in  public  schools. 

E.  Vocational  and  educational  guidance  in  schools. 

F.  Work  with  delinquents. 

G.  Family  case  work  agencies  who  feel  the  need  of  this 
type  of  case  work. 

This  work  is  very  new  and  is  appearing  in  many  fields.  I 
have  no  figures,  but  I  know  that  there  are  not  nearly  enough 
psychiatric  workers  or  children's  workers  so  trained  to  fill  the 
demand. 

Suggested  readings 

"Mental  Hygiene"  —  Wm.  A.  White. 

"The  Mental  Hygiene  of  Childhood"  —  Wm.  A.  White. 

"Mental  Conflicts  and  Misconduct"  —  Wm.  Healy. 


CAMP-FIRE  GIRL  LEADERS  465 

"Schools  of  Tomorrow"  —  John  and  Evelyn  Dewey. 
"Speech  Training  for  Children"  —  Smiley  Blanton. 


CAMP-FIRE  GIRL  LEADERS 

ROWE  WRIGHT 

Description  of  occupation 

The  Camp-Fire  Girls  is  a  growing  organization  of  125,000  girls. 
It  has  grown  by  its  own  momentum,  and  the  movement  has 
spread  until  there  are  groups  in  every  State,  Alaska,  Canada, 
on  every  continent,  and  in  seventeen  foreign  countries. 

And  with  this  healthy  spread  of  the  programme,  there  is 
a  new  vocation  for  women  springing  into  existence  within  the 
organization,  a  vocation  which  pays  a  fair  salary,  and  offers 
inspiring  work  to  the  women  it  employs.  More  and  more 
frequently  come  to  National  Headquarters  of  the  Camp-Fire 
Girls  requests  for  young  women  who  are  trained  and  qualified 
to  act  as  local  secretaries  for  the  Camp-Fire  Girls  in  certain 
cities  or  localities.  The  salaries  of  these  secretaries  or  execu- 
tives, as  well  as  the  expense  of  the  maintaining  of  the  local 
oflBces,  are  paid  for  from  a  budget  raised  in  those  communities. 

There  are  at  the  present  time  such  executives,  beginning  on 
a  salary  of  from  $1500  to  $2800,  in  Minneapolis,  Kansas  City, 
Seattle,  Chicago,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  Omaha,  and  in  some 
smaller  cities,  where  the  secretary  has  an  outlying  district 
under  her.  Other  cities  in  California,  in  Maryland,  in  Wis- 
consin, and  in  New  England,  are  planning  to  establish  local 
Camp-Fire  Headquarters  in  the  fall,  and  the  National  Staff 
is  requested  to  suggest  the  proper  persons  for  the  offices. 

Smaller  towns  are  requesting  leaders  for  girls'  work,  paid 
for  by  the  town  budget;  schools  and  industries  are  writing  to 
the  leaders  of  the  Camp-Fire  Girls  for  young  women  who  can 
put  Camp-Fire  into  their  schools,  factories,  or  mining  com- 
munities and  can  lead  the  girls.  And  it  is  difficult  to  find  the 
woman  who  is  qualified  to  fill  the  position. 


466  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

The  reason  that  the  supply  of  candidates  for  such  positions 
is  so  limited  is  because  girls  and  women  outside  the  organ- 
ization do  not  know  about  the  opportunities  it  offers.  The 
organization  of  the  Camp-Fire  Girls  is  one  of  those  forces 
which  works  quietly,  steadily,  and  surely.  It  is  always  among 
the  first  to  respond  in  any  emergency;  its  members  all  over  the 
land  are  doing  service;  but  as  an  organization,  it  spends  little 
or  nothing  for  publicity. 

Training  necessary 

It  is  true  that  to  fill  the  position  of  a  Camp-Fire  local  execu- 
tive, a  certain  training  is  necessary.  National  Headquarters 
offers  each  year  a  series  of  training  courses  where  persons 
interested  in  Camp-Fire  and  Camp-Fire  leadership  may  get 
well  acquainted  with  the  movement.  Besides  these  national 
training  courses,  such  courses  have  been  and  are  being  given 
from  time  to  time  in  various  colleges,  normal  schools,  and 
universities  throughout  the  country.  The  following  is  the  list 
of  the  institutions  where  such  courses  have  been  given  in  the 
past.  The  list  is  constantly  changing  and  it  is  advisable, 
therefore,  for  any  one  interested  in  such  a  course  to  com- 
municate directly  with  National  Headquarters,  Camp-Fire 
Girls,  31  East  17th  Street,  New  York  City: 

Summer  School,  University  of  California,  Berkeley,  Cali- 
fornia. 

Stockton,  CaHfomia.  Courses  under  the  Playground  Com- 
mission. 

Colorado  State  Teachers  College,  Greeley,  Colorado. 

Colorado  State  Normal  School,  Gunnison,  Colorado. 

University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  Illinois. 

Illinois  College,  Jacksonville,  Illinois. 

Extension  Department  of  the  Iowa  Agricultural  College. 

Iowa  State  Normal  School,  Physical  Training  Depart- 
ment, Cedar  Falls,  Iowa. 

Grinnell  College,  Grinnell,  Iowa. 


CAMP-FraE  GIRL  LEADERS  467 

Lenox  College,  Hopkinton,  Iowa. 

Summer  School,  University  of  Kansas,  Lawrence,  Kansas. 

Kansas  Normal  School,  Ft.  Hayes,  Kansas. 

Boston  University. 

Michigan  State  Normal  College,  Ypsilanti,  Michigan. 
(Course  is  now  compulsory.) 

State  Normal  School,  Moorhead,  Minnesota* 

University  of  Nebraska,  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

State  Normal  School,  Kearney,  Nebraska. 

University  School  of  Music,  Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

State  Normal  School,  Valley  City,  North  Dakota. 

Miami  University,  Ohio.    (Summer  course  with  credit.) 

Home  Economics  Department,  Ohio  University,  Athens, 
Ohio. 

Indiana  State  Normal,  Terre  Haute,  Indiana. 

Summer  School,  State  Normal,  Memphis,  Tennessee. 

Extension  Department,  University  of  Washington,  Seattle, 
Washington. 

State  Normal  School,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  (Six  weeks' 
course  one-half  credit.) 

State  Normal  School,  River  Falls,  Wisconsin. 

During  the  summer  months,  there  is  always  a  series  of 
these  training  courses  at  Camp-Fire  camps  and  at  various 
summer  schools.  Much  more  can,  of  course,  be  learned  at  a 
summer  training  course  than  at  any  other,  for  the  summer 
course  includes  the  practical  lessons  in  camping  and  out-of- 
door  activities.  The  intensive  training  of  these  courses  covers 
usually  a  period  of  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks.  Where  the 
course  is  given  in  a  normal  school  or  college,  however,  it 
usually  is  given  but  one  or  two  recitation  periods  and  is  car- 
ried through  the  term  or  the  length  of  the  session. 

There  are  requirements,  of  course,  for  the  trained  Camp- 
Fire  executives,  other  than  attendance  at  one  of  the  estab- 
lished training  courses.  The  woman  or  girl  who  has  acted  as 
a  guardian  of  a  group  of  Camp-Fire  Girls  has  certain  knowl- 


468  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

edge  and  experience  valuable  for  the  local  executive.  We 
should  advise  any  girl  or  woman  who  may  think  of  qualify- 
ing for  such  a  position  to  become  a  guardian  and  learn  about 
Camp-Fire  where  it  is  most  real,  in  the  hearts  of  the  girls 
and  in  the  communities  where  they  are  doing  their  Camp-Fire 
service. 

Qualifications 

A  WOMAN  of  college  experience  has  certain  qualifications 
which  are  very  valuable.  An  executive  must  be  well  read 
and  well  informed,  for  she  will  be  called  upon  to  talk  to  all 
sorts  of  people  on  all  sorts  of  things.  A  woman  may  be  steeped 
in  Camp-Fire,  and  know  everything  in  the  world  to  know 
about  her  subject,  and  yet  be  a  failure  as  an  executive  if  she 
cannot  meet  with  dignity  and  poise  and  grace  persons  of  all 
walks  of  life.     The  girls  will  look  to  her  as  the  pattern. 

The  qualities  of  leadership  always  are  the  same.  To  be  a 
good  executive  a  woman  must  be  a  leader  and  not  a  follower. 
She  must  have  ingenuity,  tact,  and  the  ability  to  make  others 
work.  She  must  have  personality  and  power.  If  she  has  some 
special  ability  or  hobby  which  she  does  exceedingly  well,  like 
swimming  or  hiking  or  some  sort  of  craft  work,  she  will  have 
an  added  advantage,  for  girls  love  people  who  can  do  some- 
thing they  can  do,  but  far  better  than  they  can  do  it. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  of  such  a  position  are  legion.  There  is 
nothing  confining  in  such  work,  the  work  is  varied,  the  ex- 
ecutive has  the  opportunity  to  meet  people,  and  has  real  hu- 
man relationships  with  the  girls. 

The  very  advantages  of  such  a  position  may  be  the  dis- 
advantages. A  Camp-Fire  executive's  work  is  never  a  time- 
clock  job.  It  is  not  the  sort  of  work  which  one  can  shut  in  her 
desk  when  she  locks  the  drawers.  The  work  is  so  varied  and 
inclusive  that  the  secretary  must  be  willing  to  do  anything 
from  filing  cards  to  presiding  at  a  dinner.    She  must  hke 


CAMP-FIRE  GIRL  LEADERS  469 

young  girls  and  understand  them,  and  be  tactful  enough  and 
broad  enough  to  act  as  arbiter  and  as  the  supreme  court  at 
times  of  dissension.  She  must  know  how  to  get  along  with 
older  women,  with  women  who  have  been  guardians  for  longer 
time  than  that  in  which  she  has  been  in  the  work.  She  must 
be  generous-minded  to  persons  of  smaller  experience  and  nar- 
rower views  than  hers. 

Such  positions  are  not  all  a  bed  of  roses,  but  they  are  living 
and  real,  and  are  based  upon  an  ideal  of  life  and  a  sincere 
effort  to  make  the  business  of  being  a  woman  more  attractive, 
by  inculcating  in  adolescent  girls  habits  of  health  and  fun 
and  right  living,  by  helping  them  to  find  something  within 
themselves. 

Financial  return 

Plans  are  under  way  for  districting  the  country  with  paid 
executives  in  each  district.  This  plan  will  again  demand  the 
right  women.  It  is  true  that,  in  any  work  of  this  sort,  the 
opportunities  for  advancement  are  limited.  Until  more  than 
a  handful  of  people  awaken  to  the  need  of  organized  girls* 
work  the  maximum  salary  for  girls'  work  executives  will 
never  exceed  $3500.  It  has  not  yet  reached  that  figure.  But 
sad  as  this  fact  may  be,  it  need  not  be  discouraging,  for  the 
Camp-Fire  executive  gets  a  rare  training  which  will  add  to 
her  ejQSciency  and  make  her  qualified  for  a  more  responsible 
position  in  other  work. 

Reading 

The  "Manual  of  the  Camp-Fire  Girls"  and  their  monthly 
magazine,  "EverygirFs  Magazine,"  will  give  more  definite 
information  and  more  of  the  spirit  of  the  movement  than  I 
have  been  able  to  give  here. 


470  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

CHIEF  MATRON  IN  A  DETENTION  HOME 
FOR  GIRLS 

MRS.  A.  B.  WHITE 

Chief  Matron,  Boston  Detention  House  for  Women 

Description  of  occupation 

The  duties  of  a  chief  of  a  detention  house  for  women  are 
similar  to  those  of  a  captain  of  a  p>oHce  station.  The  chief 
matron  must  have  absolute  order  and  cleanliness  throughout 
the  prison;  she  must  search  all  women  prisoners  on  arrival; 
conduct  them  to  their  cells  and  take  full  responsibility  of 
them  while  in  her  charge,  suicide  being  one  of  the  things  to 
guard  against.  (I  take  charge  of  between  6000  and  7000 
women  annually.) 

She  must  take  care  of  all  the  bookkeeping,  make  an  entry 
of  the  name  of  each  woman  who  comes  under  her  charge  dur- 
ing the  year,  the  charge  against  her,  and  the  sentence  which 
is  ultimately  passed. 

The  work,  though  sometimes  depressing  and  often  tragic,  is 
never  monotonous  and  offers  a  wonderful  field  to  one  imbued 
with  the  missionary  spirit  of  doing  good  and  helping  a  fallen 
sister.  Reform  is  not  frequent,  but  where  kind  treatment  and 
good  advice  have  had  effect  the  reformation  has  been  lasting. 

All  arrests  are  brought  to  the  chief  matron  and  placed  under 
her  care  until  they  are  brought  to  court.  After  sentence  has 
been  passed  or  they  are  discharged,  they  return  to  the  chief 
matron  until  they  are  taken  away  to  serve  sentence  or  to  be 
released.  A  probation  officer  always  talks  to  the  prisoners 
before  they  appear  in  court. 

The  chief  has  an  assistant  and  three  night  matrons  and  two 
cleaners.  Each  cell  has  to  be  thoroughly  cleaned  after  the 
occupant  leaves. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  only  training  is  experience  gained  through  serving  as 

assistant  to  a  chief  matron. 


THE  CLINICAL  PSYCHOLOGIST  471 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

A  KIND  disposition,  broad  sympathies,  and  the  ability  to  cope 
with  all  situations  which  may  occur,  are  among  the  most 
important  qualifications.  Perfect  health  and  steady  nerves 
are  essential.  One  must  also  possess  some  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine in  order  that  she  may  care  for  the  sick  and  injured  who 
come  under  her  care  pending  the  arrival  of  a  doctor  or  ambu- 
lance; she  must  also  have  high  standards  and  intelligence  and 
be  above  the  temptation  of  bribes. 

Financial  returns 

The  salary  of  a  chief  matron  is  $1500  a  year,  and  pension  after 

twenty  years'  service,  and  $20  a  week  for  assistant  matron. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  no  advancement  for  a  chief  matron. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  are  few  and  the  disadvantages  many.  The 
chief  advantage  is  the  knowledge  that  you  are  doing  God's 
work  and  helping  a  fellow  sister. 

Among  the  disadvantages  are  the  long  hours,  the  type  and 
condition  of  the  prisoners  with  whom  you  come  in  contact; 
the  terrific  nervous  strain  under  which  you  work  most  of  the 
time;  the  small  remuneration  for  the  services  you  render  with 
no  opportunity  for  an  advancement  or  increase. 

THE  CLINICAL  PSYCHOLOGIST 

AUGUSTA  F.  BRONNER,  Ph.D. 

Assistant  Director,  Judge  Baker  Foundaiion,  Boston,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

The  clinical  psychologist  is  a  worker  in  a  comparatively  new 
field.  It  is  only  within  the  last  decade  or  two  that  psychology 
has  concerned  itself  with  practical  problems.  In  the  compara- 


472  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

lively  few  years  since  that  beginning  the  advance  has  been 
rapid  both  in  fields  of  application  and  in  recognition  of  the 
value  of  psychological  study. 

Clinical  psychology  devotes  itself  to  the  study  of  groups  and 
more  particularly  of  individuals,  as  an  aid  to  adjustments, 
educational,  vocational,  and  social.  It  seeks  to  make  such  a 
study  that  training  and  occupation  can  be  based  upon  known 
capacity  and  fitness. 

CHnical  psychology  has  a  place  in  schools,  courts,  indus- 
tries —  indeed,  wherever  an  intelligent  approach  to  adjust- 
ment is  sought.  Specifically  it  is  concerned  with  the  giving  of 
mental  tests  and  their  interpretation  and  the  offering  of  prac- 
tical advice  and  recommendations  based  on  its  findings.  It 
involves,  to  some  extent,  the  understanding  of  the  relations 
of  mental  to  physical  and  social  problems  and  study,  through 
analysis,  of  problems  of  the  emotional  life  which  affect  output 
of  energy  and  behavior  in  general.  This  latter  aspect  is  the 
field  of  mental  hygiene  which,  at  the  present  time,  is  recog- 
nized as  a  factor  in  school  and  industrial  success  as  well  as  in 
health. 

Earlier  diagnosis  of  capacities  was  based  largely  on  results 
attained  on  so-called  age-level  tests,  the  Binet  tests  and  their 
modifications,  whereby  "general  intelligence"  was  evaluated 
and  the  normal  differentiated  from  the  defective.  Then  there 
were  developed  tests  for  special  mental  functions,  for  mem- 
ory, imagination,  reasoning,  mechanical  ability,  and  so  on. 
Performance  tests  increased  rapidly  in  number,  and  now  trade 
tests,  group  tests,  non-verbal  tests,  tests  for  vocational  apti- 
tudes, such  as  clerical  work,  engineering,  the  arts,  are  forming 
an  ever-growing  list.  Special  abilities  and  disabihties  are 
being  sought  and  studied  and  made  the  basis  of  educational 
and  vocational  advice. 

At  the  present  time  an  effort  is  being  made  to  set  up  definite 
standards  and  qualifications  for  psychological  examiners  and 
psychological  experts.  In  1917  the  American  Psychological 
Association  appointed  a  committee  to  present  recommenda- 


THE  CLINICAL  PSYCHOLOGIST  473 

tions  concerning  the  training  and  experience  requisite  for  the 
cHnical  or  "consulting"  psychologist,  and  to  consider  the  ad- 
visability of  certifying  psychologists. 

Thus  clinical  psychology  would  be  lifted  into  the  profes- 
sions and  take  its  place  along  with  medicine,  law,  and  the 
other  professions.  This,  in  turn,  would  require  definite  tech- 
nical preparation,  in  which  psychology  would  be  the  major 
factor  and  in  which  applications  of  psychology  to  education, 
medicine,  industry,  the  law  would  be  included.  The  psycho- 
logical training  would  probably  be  both  general  and  specific, 
including  acquirement  of  technique  in  giving  and  ir^terpret- 
ing  mental  tests,  in  making  of  educational  measurements  and 
in  statistical  treatment  of  results.  Probably  this  preparation 
would  lead  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy;  at  least, 
until  there  is  a  separate  degree  of  Doctor  of  Psychology. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

It  can  readily  be  seen  that  the  training  necessary  for  the 
clinical  psychologist  is  more  than  the  ordinary  college  or  uni- 
versity course;  further  study  requiring  probably  two  or  three 
years  of  graduate  work  and  including  some  training  in  re- 
search is  needed.  Undergraduate  work  should,  of  course,  be 
selected  with  a  view  to  obtaining,  as  far  as  possible,  the  foun- 
dations of  sociology,  biology,  perhaps  economics,  as  well  as 
general  and  laboratory  psychology. 

The  preparation  of  the  clinical  psychologist  may  seem  long 
and  costly;  it  is,  however,  comparable,  indeed  very  similar,  to 
that  required  in  other  professions.  Furthermore,  the  rewards 
are  great.  There  is  the  satisfaction  that  comes  from  under- 
standing and  helping  human  beings,  from  aiding  in  the  solu- 
tion of  problems  and  adjusting  their  difficulties.  Besides,  the 
research  aspect  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized;  for  in 
studying  the  individual  and  helping  him  material  is  being 
gathered  that  must  lead  to  increase  of  knowledge  and  con- 
tribute in  a  broad  sense  towards  a  science  of  human  behavior. 


474  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

The  financial  returns  depend  on  the  training  of  the  worker; 
as  compared  with  teaching  and  social  work  the  remuneration 
is  good. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  trained  clinical  psychologists  at  present  far 
exceeds  the  supply.  The  well-trained  will  find  openings  await- 
ing them.  This  is  a  wide  field  and  a  growing  one  and  the  oppor- 
tunities are  manifold. 


THE  COMMUNITY-CENTER  WORKER 
MISS  GRACE  HUMPHREY  and 

MISS  CORA  McDowell 

People's  InstiiiUef  New  York  City 

Description  of  work 

The  community  center  is  not  a  building,  but  an  idea.  It 
means  supplying  the  inspiration  and  the  leadership  to  help 
people  get  things  for  themselves.  It  means  a  mobilization  of 
the  people,  in  groups  and  individually,  for  democratic  cooper- 
ation in  all  matters  of  neighborhood  self-help  and  enhanced 
life.  The  activities  of  a  community-center  worker  are  the 
piost  varied  imaginable,  running  the  whole  scale  of  health, 
education,  and  recreation,  from  pageants  and  folk-dancing  to 
using  the  schools  as  polling-places,  from  play  streets  for  chil- 
dren to  information  stations  for  foreigners,  from  mal-nutri- 
tional  clinics  to  athletic  tournaments  and  managing  the  busi- 
ness end  of  an  embroidery  guild  of  immigrant  women,  from 
mothers*  meetings  and  cooperative  buying  to  the  people's 
forum  and  a  labor  union's  clubroom  in  a  pubhc  school. 

Training  suggested 

Training  for  community-center  work  is  given  in  the  New 

York  School  for  Social  Research,  the  New  York  School  of 


THE  COMMUNITY-CENTER  WORKER       475 

Philanthropy,  the  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy, 
and  special  courses  at  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 
This  training  is  for  one  or  two  years  and  should  by  all  means 
include  opportunities  for  field  work,  with  one  piece  of  detailed 
work  for  each  student,  putting  theory  into  practice.  Under- 
graduate courses  in  college  should  include  economics  and 
sociology  (with  special  attention  to  labor  problems  and  trade- 
unionism),  psychology,  as  much  literature  and  history  as 
possible,  with  some  foundation  work  in  music  and  drama. 

Advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  limitless.  It  is  what 
the  worker  makes  it,  depending  on  the  interest  and  help  of 
the  community  which  she  arouses  and  enlists.  Each  year  the 
field  is  growing  larger  and  larger.  The  financial  return  is  from 
$1200  to  $3500,  with  a  month's  vacation. 

Qualifications  for  success 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  will  sound,  I  fear,  as  if 
only  an  ideal  woman  could  ever  meet  them.  This  is  not  work 
that  any  woman  can  step  into  and  do.  It  is  worthy  of  her  life- 
time's study.  Anybody  can  stage  a  big  meeting;  few  people 
can  make  results  of  that  meeting  influence  a  whole  commu- 
nity. The  community-center  worker  must  be  serious  and  ear- 
nest. She  must  have  a  great  interest  in  people.  She  must  have 
patience  and  tact,  enthusiasm,  sympathy  and  understanding, 
faith  in  the  possibilities  of  human  beings,  the  ability  to  get 
other  people  to  do  things,  initiative  to  turn  to  a  substitute 
plan  when  a  first  scheme  fails.  She  must  be  able  to  write,  to 
put  her  ideas  in  a  newspaper  article,  to  talk  to  a  club  of 
women,  to  a  group  of  business  men  or  foreigners.  She  should 
be  a  good  mixer,  able  to  get  on  with  every  class.  She  must 
have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  economic  conditions  of  her 
community-housing,  health,  wages,  recreational  proclivities, 
vocational  possibilities.  With  this  must  go  an  appreciation  of 
her  people's  limitations,  racial  or  educational,  local  or  foreign. 


476  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

She  must  have  infinite  tact  in  directing  enthusiasms,  to  steer 
people  off  or  give  them  something  else  to  do,  without  squelch- 
ing interest.  She  must  have  executive  ability  and  be  a  good 
business  manager,  able  to  raise  money,  to  do  things  without 
funds,  to  keep  up  with  all  the  details  and  yet  initiate  the  big 
things,  too.  She  must  understand  publicity  methods,  the 
value  of  advertising  and  exhibits,  of  making  circulars  and 
bulletin  boards  attractive.  She  must  be  very  practical,  be- 
cause for  support  and  backing  she  is  dependent  on  the  hard- 
headed  business  men  of  the  town.  She  must  be  a  natural 
leader,  yet  not  so  much  of  a  genius  that  she  stands  out,  head 
and  shoulders  above  the  rest,  unable  to  submerge  her  own 
personality  in  the  work.  Her  personal  magnetism  must  in- 
terest people  not  in  her,  but  in  the  community;  her  work 
must  be  not  an  additional  stimulus,  leaving  them  passive,  but 
an  increased  opportunity  for  self-expression.  She  must  be  all 
things  to  all  men,  able  to  make  contacts  with  church  and 
lodge  and  union,  with  clubs  and  chamber  of  commerce  and 
board  of  education,  with  policemen  and  school  teachers  and 
librarians,  with  social  workers  and  private  citizens  and  city 
oflSicials.  She  must  be  the  bridge  connecting  the  rank  and  file 
of  her  community  with  all  the  experts  of  city  and  state  and 
nation,  knowing  how  they  can  serve  her,  how  she  can  serve 
them,  in  enlisting  her  people  as  co-workers  in  the  construc- 
tive task  of  government. 

Advantages 

The  advantages  of  this  work  are  that  it  is  not  stereotyped  and 
never  grows  stale;  that  it  calls  out  everything  a  woman  has  to 
give,  using  every  bit  of  knowledge  she  may  possess.  She  never 
knows  what  situation  will  arise,  what  she  may  be  called  on  to 
do.  With  her  people  she  enters  into  every  phase  of  life.  It  is 
constant  change  of  subject  and  of  contact.  It  is  out  of  doors 
as  much  as  in  —  interviewing,  speaking,  initiating,  carrying 
out  plans. 


THE  COMMUNITY-CENTER  WORKER      477 

Disadvantages 

The  disadvantages  are  the  long  hours  (there  are  n't  enough 
in  the  twenty-four;  she  knows  no  eight-hour  day!),  the  great 
responsibiUty  on  her  shoulders,  the  lack  of  responsibility  in 
the  people  with  whom  she  must  work,  their  indifference  and 
disinclination  for  exertion,  the  fact  that  she  must  work  on 
when  she  can't  see  results,  the  opposition  she  must  be  ready 
for,  the  fact  that  frequently  she  must  raise  her  own  salary, 
that  she  must  originate  and  adapt  ideas  and  then  put  them 
through;  this  latter  requires  two  distinct  kinds  of  ability. 

Extent  of  occupation 

No  statistics  are  available  for  this  new  occupation.  The  de- 
mand is  growing  rapidly,  far  more  rapidly  than  the  supply 
of  trained  workers,  and  for  a  decade  or  more  this  will  be  true. 
It  is  work  for  city  and  country  alike,  for  towns  of  every  size, 
for  industries. 

Service  to  society 

The  service  to  society  is  immeasurable.  It  is  teamwork  in 
educating  the  people  to  take  advantage  of  existing  opportu- 
nities, to  get  the  things  they  desire.  It  is  giving  an  opening  to 
all  classes  to  know  things  of  value,  to  disseminate  knowledge 
without  perverting  it,  to  develop  interests  common  to  all.  It 
means  bringing  into  our  intricate  social  relations,  with  con- 
flicting economic  interests  and  class  prejudices,  the  American 
spirit  which  made  the  New  England  town  meeting  so  effective; 
a  sharing  of  educational  advantages  through  vocational  guid- 
ance, of  recreation  through  organized  sports,  and  of  spiritual 
growth. 

Suggested  reading 

"The  Immigrant  and  the  Community"  —  Grace  Abbott. 
"Wider  Uses  of  the  School  Plant"  —  F.  C.  Howe. 
"Mobilizing  the  Rural  Community"  (Agricultural  College, 
Amherst,  Mass.)  —  Wm.  D.  Hurd. 


478  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Leadership  of  the  New  America"  —  Archibald  McCIure. 
"Social  Psychology'*  —  Wm.  McDougall. 
"Community-Center  Activities"  —  C.  A.  Perry. 
"Charts  on  Statistics"  —  Sidney  A.  Reeves. 
"The  A  B  C  of  Exhibits"  —  E.  G.  and  M.  S.  Routzahn. 
"Working  with  the  People"  —  Charles  Sprague  Smith. 
"The  Social  Center"  —  E.  J.  Ward. 
"Applied  Sociology"  —  L.  F.  Ward. 

Files  of  "The  Community  Center, ""Playground, ""Survey,' 
"American  City." 


FAMILY  SOCIAL  WORK 

By  HELEN  P.  KEMPTON 

Associate  Director,  American  Association  for  organizing  Family  Social  Work 

Description  of  occupation 

During  the  past  ten  years  family  social  work  has  taken  on 
certain  professional  aspects  which  failed  to  characterize  its 
earlier  history.  The  associated  charities  or  charity  organi- 
zation movement  in  this  country  started  in  1877  with  the 
founding  of  the  society  in  Buffalo,  and  thus  is  one  of  the  coun- 
try's oldest  charitable  institutions.  Family  case  work,  how- 
ever, is  a  recent  development  and  had  no  place  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  the  early  societies;  the  effort  to  modernize  charity 
organization  methods  was  started  by  the  Russell  Sage  Foun- 
dation in  1909  and  taken  over  two  years  later  by  the  American 
Association  for  Organizing  Family  Social  Work,  whose  mem- 
bership now  consists  of  180  of  the  most  progressive  family 
work  agencies  of  this  country  and  Canada.  Case  work  as 
applied  to  philanthropy  had  its  origin  in  this  group  of  family 
workers;  it  has  since  been  carried  over  into  the  fields  of  chil- 
dren's work  and  of  hospital  social  service.  Family  case  work 
is  as  far  removed  as  the  distance  between  the  poles  from  the 
methods  of  work  of  the  old-fashioned  charity  organization 
society,  a  number  of  which  societies  are  unfortunately  still 


FAMILY  SOCIAL  WORK  479 

doing  business  to-day  along  the  same  lines  as  in  the  year  of 
their  founding. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  describe  the  nature  of  family 
social  work  within  the  brief  compass  here  allowed.  It  will, 
perhaps,  be  best  to  describe  first  the  function  of  the  case 
worker,  then,  briefly,  that  of  the  district  secretary,  the  case 
supervisor,  and  the  general  secretary.  The  case  worker  has  a 
place  in  every  family  work  society  worthy  of  the  name.  Her 
time  is  devoted  to  visiting  famihes  in  trouble  of  one  sort  or 
another,  who  have  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  so- 
ciety. She  has  been  fitted,  by  her  training,  to  make  careful, 
sympathetic  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  en- 
couraging the  head  of  the  family  to  talk  freely  and  spon- 
taneously, but  introducing  a  question  here  and  there  to  keep 
the  interview  focused  toward  covering  certain  points  needed 
for  the  later  investigation.  Thus,  without  taking  notes  dur- 
ing the  interview,  she  is  prepared  at  its  close  to  jot  down  a 
consecutive  account  of  what  she  has  learned  and  to  follow  up 
the  clues  she  has  gathered,  consulting  outside  sources  of  evi- 
dence (relatives,  employers,  etc.)  wherever  necessary  in  order 
to  get  a  clear,  unbiased  picture  of  the  circumstances  of  this 
one  particular  family  whom  she  wants  to  help  out  of  their 
difficulties  in  the  sanest  way  at  her  command.  The  philoso- 
phy of  case  work  is  based  on  the  belief  that  an  outsider  should 
not  presume  to  make  plans  for  an  individual  or  a  family  until 
after  having  learned  some  of  the  facts  of  their  characteristics, 
tendencies,  and  background.  Thus,  a  case  worker  does  not 
send  a  man  who  is  out  of  work  to  a  new  position  until  she  has 
learned  something  of  his  past  record  and  the  kind  of  work  for 
which  he  is  best  fitted.  Although  case  work  seems  to  some  a 
slow  process,  it  is  in  the  end  a  time-saver  and  prevents  making 
false  moves,  otherwise  inevitable.  Needless  to  say,  any  im- 
mediate material  need  of  the  family  is  cared  for  at  once;  the 
one  main  difference  between  case  work  and  the  old  method  of 
"helping"  being,  that  the  case  worker  does  not  stop  at  the 
point  of  having  temporarily  reheved  the  situation,  but  follows 


480  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

through  in  the  effort  to  guard  against  the  recurrence  of  the 
present  emergency  or  a  similar  one. 

In  cities  having  a  population  of  100,000  or  over  the  society 
may  be  divided  into  districts.  The  district  secretary  visits 
families,  makes  plans  for  treatment  with  the  advice  of  her 
committee,  directs  volunteers,  seeks  to  interest  people  in  her 
locahty  in  the  work  of  the  society,  and  may  become  active  on 
one  or  more  committees  for  community  betterment,  such  as 
housing,  motion-picture  censorship,  etc.  In  the  larger  cities 
a  supervisor  of  case  work  has  general  charge  of  the  case  work 
of  the  society.  She  supervises  the  work  of  the  districts  through 
reading  records,  visiting  case  conferences  and  other  commit- 
tees, and  plans  and  directs  the  training  of  new  workers  by  the 
society.  The  supervisor  of  case  work  also  presides  at  regular 
meetings  of  the  district  secretaries  and  other  case  workers  at 
which  are  discussed  matters  of  current  policy  and  general  in- 
terest; thus  she  keeps  in  close  touch  with  the  case  work  of  the 
society  in  every  section  of  the  city.  The  work  of  the  general 
secretary  varies  according  to  the  size  of  the  city.  Thus  in 
small  towns  the  general  secretary  and  one  clerical  assistant 
may  compose  the  entire  office  staff;  in  cities  up  to  200,000 
population  the  general  secretary  generally  does  some  of  the 
case  work  and  acts  as  supervisor  of  all  assistants.  In  cities  of 
oVer  200,000  population  there  may  be  a  case  supervisor,  and 
this  relieves  the  general  secretary  of  all  direct  responsibility 
for  the  case  work.  The  larger  the  city  the  more  numerous  are 
the  outside  demands  made  upon  a  general  secretary's  time. 
The  duties  of  the  general  secretary  of  a  family  work  society 
in  a  large  city  differ  in  only  a  few  respects  from  the  duties  of 
the  chief  executives  of  other  kinds  of  social  agencies.  They 
include  responsibility  for  fund-raising  and  the  publicity  work 
of  the  society,  direction  of  matters  of  policy  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  board  of  directors,  organization  of  committees  of 
the  society,  taking  an  active  part  in  city,  state,  and  nation- 
wide conferences  of  social  agencies,  appearing  at  legislative 
hearings  in  support  of  measures  for  social  reform,  and  last. 


FAMILY  SOCIAL  WORK  481 

but  by  no  means  least,  directing  the  administrative  affairs  of 
the  society  itself,  seeing  to  it  that  the  component  parts  are 
running  smoothly  and  that  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  is  main- 
tained. 

Preparation  necessary 

Training  for  family  social  work  is  given  in  a  one-  or  two- 
year  course  by  six  schools,  as  follows: 

Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  Chicago. 
School  of  Social  Work,  Boston. 

The  Pennsylvania  School  for  Social  Service,  Philadelphia. 
The  New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  New  York  City. 
School  of  Social  Work  and  Public  Health,  Richmond,  Va. 
Missouri  School  of  Social  Economy,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

All  of  the  schools  do  not  insist  upon  a  college  degree  as  an 
entrance  requirement;  in  the  main,  however,  the  training  is 
considered  post-graduate  and  is  so  classified  by  the  few  col- 
leges that  have  gone  into  this  subject  and  have  established 
schools  in  applied  sociology.  Undergraduate  subjects  which 
are  helpful  are:  pohtics  and  economics,  English,  modern 
languages,  and  psychology.  Certain  of  the  established  so- 
cieties give  a  one-year's  training  course  available  for  those 
who  for  one  reason  or  another  are  unable  to  take  the  training 
in  one  of  the  schools  of  social  work. 

Opportunity  for  advancement  —  Financial  return 
There  is  every  opportunity  for  advancement  in  the  field; 
there  are  in  this  country  upwards  of  300  societies  doing 
family  social  work,^  and  the  demand  for  trained  executives 
is  constantly  increasing.  The  financial  return  compares  fa- 
vorably with  that  offered  to  women  in  other  professions.  One 
hundred  dollars  monthly  is  the  minimum  salary  recom- 

*  Directory  of  Family  Social  Work  Societies  in  U.S.A.  and  Canada,  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Association  for  Organizing  Family  Social  Work,  130 
East  22d  Street,  New  York  City. 


482  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

mended  for  a  graduate  of  the  one-year's  course  at  a  school  of 
social  work,  with  the  further  recommendation  that  automatic 
increases  be  granted  at  six  months'  intervals.^  At  the  present 
writing  salaries  range  as  follows:  For  district  secretaries, 
$1200  to  $1500;  for  supervisors,  $1500  to  $3000;  for  general 
secretaries,  $1500  to  $5000.  Certain  qualities  may  be  con- 
sidered as  assets  for  the  social  worker;  for  example,  sincerity 
of  purpose,  a  reasonable  degree  of  tact,  and  a  human  interest 
in  people. 

Advantages 

Social  work  has  a  number  of  advantages.  For  case  workers 
and  district  secretaries  the  regular  outdoor  life  and  exercise 
are  most  beneficial  and  the  satisfaction  is  great  of  being  en- 
gaged in  a  work  so  vital  in  its  nature  and  so  strong  in  human 
appeal.  A  healthy  physique  and  steady  nerves  count  for  a 
great  deal  with  the  social  worker,  yet  the  writer  has  seen  a 
number  of  persons  gain  in  physical  and  nervous  health  under 
the  social  work  regime. 

Extent  of  occupation 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  fact  that  at  present  there  are 

more  than  300  family  work  societies  in  this  country.  There 

are  in  addition  several  hundreds  of  Red  Cross  home  service 

sections  now  extending  their  services  to  civilian  families. 

The  demand  for  trained  social  workers  is  far  ahead  of  the 

supply  and  is  likely  to  increase  for  many  years  to  come.  High 

standards  of  work  are  gradually  coming  into  their  own,  and 

are  being  adopted  by  a  larger  and  larger  number  of  societies. 

This  advance  is,  naturally  enough,  felt  first  in  the  larger 

cities,  but  will  eventually  reach  the  smaller  towns  and  rural 

districts.    Evidence  is  not  lacking  to  show  that  towns  of 

5000  population  and  under  need  the  services  of  a  trained 

social  worker  and  that  the  problem  of  the  semi-rural  com- 

*  Report  of  Committee  on  Salary  Schedules  of  the  American  Association 
for  Organizing  Family  Social  Work,  October,  1919. 


FAMILY  SOCIAL  WORK  488 

munity  is,  after  all,  very  similar  in  its  nature  to  that  of  the 
larger  city.  At  the  present  time  no  statistics  are  available 
as  showing  the  total  number  of  trained  social  workers  in 
the  field;  it  would  be  difficult  to  compile  such  statistics  for 
the  reason  that  the  advance  of  trained  service  has  been  slow 
and  the  country  is  pretty  well  divided  between  trained  and 
untrained  workers  with  the  balance  still  in  favor  of  the 
latter. 

Service  to  society 

Family  social  work  may  be  said  to  render  a  real  and  effective 
service  to  society;  the  family  is  the  unit  upon  which  depends 
strength  of  State  and  Nation.  The  case-work  method  of 
helping  the  family  —  seeking  out  the  causes  of  distress  and 
remedying  them  in  so  far  as  possible  —  is  as  logical  a  method 
of  procedure  in  this  field  as  it  is  in  the  fields  of  law  and  med- 
icine. Upon  the  basis  of  evidence  gathered  in  the  field  of 
family  work,  it  is  possible  to  detect  weak  spots  in  city  and 
State  legislation  and  bring  about  needed  reforms  calculated 
to  benefit  many  more  than  the  relatively  small  number  of 
families  whose  needs  may  come  to  the  attention  of  a  given 
society. 

Reading ' 

"The  Family"  —  a  monthly  periodical  published  by  the 

American   Association    for    Organizing   Family   Social 

Work,  130  East  22d  Street,  New  York. 

The  following  books  pubHshed  by  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion, 130  East  22d  Street,  New  York  City: 

"Social  Diagnosis"  —  Mary  E.  Richmond. 

"Broken  Homes"  —  Joanna  C.  Colcord. 

"American  Marriage  Laws"  —  Fred  S.  Hall  and  Elisabeth 

W.  Brooke. 
"Mothers  Who  Must  Earn"  —  Katherine  S.  Anthony. 
"The  Neglected  Girl "  —  Ruth  S.  True. 


484  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Social  Case  Workers  and  Better  Industrial  Conditions"  — 
Shelby  M.  Harrison. 

"Wartime  Gains  of  the  American  Family" — James  H.  Tufts. 

"What  Social  Workers  Should  Know  About  Their  Own  Com- 
munities "  —  Margaret  F.  Byington. 

"Household  Management"  —  Florence  Nesbitt. 

"American  Charities"  —  Amos  G.  Warner. 

THE  GmLS'  CLUB  WORKER 

SARAH  B.  HACKETT 

Director,  Girls'  City  Club,  Boston 

Description  of  occupation 

The  girls*  club  worker  is  understood  to  mean  the  director  or 
executive  secretary  of  a  girls'  club  and  may  be  defined  as  the 
officer  responsible  for  the  successful  organization  of  the  club, 
and  the  direction  of  its  activities  along  lines  which  conform 
to  the  club  aims  as  expressed  in  its  by-laws. 

The  work  done  by  the  officer  in  charge  is  accomplished 
with  the  help  of  volunteer  officers  and  committees,  and  in 
large  clubs  by  paid  assistants. 

The  actual  work  done  falls  under  the  following  headings: 

A.  Club  Technique. 

Constitution  and  by-laws. 

Budget. 

Committee  organization  and  duties. 

B.  Office  Management. 

Correspondence. 

Files. 

Reports. 

C.  Finances. 

D.  PubHcity. 

Weekly  or  monthly  Bulletin. 
Newspaper  articles. 
Magazine  "feature"  articles. 
Bulletin  board. 


THE  GIRLS*  CLUB  WORKER  485 

E.  Club  programmes. 

Planning. 
Execution. 

F.  Organization  of  classes. 

G.  Contact  with  outside  agencies. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  training  required  for  this  work  can  be  obtained  at 

Columbia  University,  New  York  City,  which  offers  a  Train- 
ing Course  for  Girls*  Recreational  Work.  There  are  also 
Y.W.C.A.  Courses  for  Club  Workers. 

The  length  of  training  required  is  five  weeks  to  two  months. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

From  a  small  club  to  a  larger  unit;  from  a  larger  unit  to  a 

big  city  club.  State  or  National  League  secretaryship. 

Financial  return 

Minimum,  $1200;  maximum,  $4000. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Leadership,  executive  ability,  sympathetic  understanding, 
judgment  of  people,  tact,  originality,  magnetic  personality, 
sense  of  humor,  technique  of  leadership,  programme-build- 
ing, group  management,  business  training  and  experience. 

Advantages 

These  depend,  of  course,  upon  the  point  of  view  of  the 
worker.  Club  work  stands  between  education  and  business 
and  is  capable  of  some  of  the  satisfactions  of  both.  The  club 
worker  has  great  opportunity  for  creative  work  and  can  put 
her  own  ideas  into  practice.  She  has  the  satisfaction  of  gain- 
ing direct  results  from  the  groups  with  which  she  is  working 
and  can  be  of  infinite  benefit  to  individuals  and  community 
as  well,  in  disclosing  new  sources  of  recreation,  education, 
and  enjoyment. 

She  has  also  the  advantage  of  dealing  with  interesting 
people  and  never  lacks  variety  and  stimulus  in  her  work. 


486  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Disadvantages 

Irregular  hours.  Difficulties  of  working  with  an  organiza- 
tion which  is  not  a  commercial  enterprise. 

Extent  of  occupation 

The  only  statistics  available  for  quotation  at  the  time  this 
information  is  compiled  are  those  of  the  Massachusetts 
League  of  Women  Workers,  a  federation  of  clubs  totaling 
4000  members,  with  approximately  twenty-five  paid  secre- 
taries. 

Demand  and  supply 

The  work  in  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 

Ohio  is  steadily  increasing,  and  the  demand  for  the  type  of 

girl  who  becomes  a  good  club  worker  already  exceeds  the 

supply. 

Suggested  reading 

There  are  very  few  books  on  this  subject  as  yet,  and  none 

are  adequate.  Those  suggested  are: 

"Girls'  Clubs"  —  Helen  Ferris. 
"  Girls'  Work"  —  Eleanor  Gogin. 

"Young   Working   Girls"  —  Compilation   by    Robert    M. 
Woods,  of  South  End  House,  Boston. 


\K 


GmL-SCOUT  LEADERS 


\l  ^  ESTHER  EATON 

National  Headquarters  of  Girl  Scoiiis,  New  York 

Description  of  occupation 

Occupations  connected  with  scouting  for  girls  may  be  classi- 
fied into  four  main  divisions,  clerical,  executive,  personal, 
and  specialized  or  technical. 

As  in  any  welfare  organization  wherever  there  is  adminis- 
trative work  to  be  done  there  is  at  National  Headquarters  of 


GIRL-SCOUT  LEADERS  487 

Girl  Scouts  the  usual  amount  of  clerical  work  —  stenography, 
bookkeeping,  sales,  shipping  and  supplies,  record-keeping, 
filing,  telephone  operating,  mimeographing,  and  secretarial 
work.  In  general  the  salaries  that  go  with  these  positions  at 
National  Headquarters  correspond  with  those  of  business 
houses,  running  a  little  higher  than  the  average  paid  in  other 
welfare  or  charitable  organizations.  National  Headquarters 
has  no  data  relative  to  the  salaries  paid  to  clerical  workers  in 
local  Girl-Scout  ofiices  over  the  country. 

Executive  positions  are  open  to  women  over  a  large  field  in 
scouting  for  girls.  They  may  be  divided  into  the  following 
main  classifications:  positions  in  connection  with  National 
Headquarters,  those  in  connection  with  local  headquarters, 
and  the  position  of  National  Field  Captain  or  field  organizer, 
who  is  attached  to  the  staff  of  National  Headquarters. 

National  Headquarters,  located  in  New  York  City,  em- 
ploys at  present  a  staff  of  forty-five  persons  of  whom  all  but 
six  are  women.  These  are  divided  into  eight  departmental 
groups  at  the  head  of  each  of  which  is  one  or  more  executives. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  administrative  department  including 
the  National  Director  and  her  assistants  who  plan  and  super- 
vise the  policy  and  the  work  of  National  Headquarters  and 
guide  the  work  of  the  various  local  organizations  throughout 
the  country.  Three  of  these  groups  devote  their  attention 
to  publicity,  magazine  and  editorial  work,  editing  the  Girl- 
Scout  Magazine,  "The  American  Girl,"  the  "Girl  Scout 
Handbook  and  Camping  Manual,"  and  all  other  literature 
issued  from  Headquarters.  A  fifth  department  directs  the 
activities  of  the  field,  handling  correspondence  from  and  to 
Girl-Scout  leaders  all  over  the  country  and  registering  offi- 
cers and  scouts  and  supervising  by  correspondence  and  in 
personal  conference  the  work  of  local  directors  and  the 
national  field  captains. 

Thirty-one  cities  at  the  present  time  and  a  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  cities  have  headquarters  with  offices  for 
their  Girl-Scout  work.    In  each  of  these  offices  the  work  is 


488  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

similar,  although  on  a  smaller  scale  than  that  at  National 
Headquarters.  It  requires  ability  to  cooperate  with  other 
welfare  organizations  in  the  field,  to  secure  volunteer  leaders 
and  conduct  training  classes  for  them,  to  organize  and  direct 
a  clerical  force,  to  plan  and  handle  a  budget,  to  raise  money, 
to  direct  committees,  to  do  propaganda  work  and  publicity 
and  to  speak  in  public. 

There  are  at  present  eleven  field  captains  or  field  organizers 
attached  to  the  staff  of  National  Headquarters,  each  of  whom 
has  a  section  of  the  country  under  her  supervision  and  control 
which  comprises  several  States.  This  work,  which  is  very 
new,  will  develop  into  the  establishment  of  district  offices  of 
National  Headquarters  where  work  similar  to  that  carried  on 
at  National  Headquarters  will  be  done.  It  involves  organi- 
zation work  throughout  the  district.  The  field  organizer  will 
travel  to  every  community  in  her  zone  where  there  are  Girl- 
Scout  troops,  will  study  the  problem  peculiar  to  that  com- 
munity, will  encourage  the  organization  of  local  councils  and 
offices  with  paid  directors,  will  advise  with  the  captains  of 
the  several  troops  in  the  community  and  try  to  inspire  them 
with  the  best  standards  of  troop  work,  will  seek  new  leaders 
for  newly  formed  troops  and  will  stimulate  scouting  in  every 
possible  way  during  her  stay  in  the  community.  She  will  be  in 
touch  with  the  press  throughout  her  district  and  will  attempt 
to  do  propaganda  work  wherever  it  is  needed,  will  make 
public  addresses,  hold  conferences  and  preside  at  meetings. 
When  the  work  is  more  highly  organized  she  will  open  offices 
in  the  center  of  her  zone  where  she  will  have  the  usual  execu- 
tive work  to  do  in  connection  with  conducting  a  branch  office. 

The  third  of  the  four  main  divisions  of  positions  open  to 
women  in  connection  with  Girl-Scout  work  is  what  we  have 
classified  as  personal  work.  It  is  the  direct  work  of  supervising 
and  leading  the  Scouts  themselves.  These  leaders  are  com- 
missioned from  National  Headquarters  as  Scout  captains  or 
lieutenants.  For  the  most  part  the  position  of  Girl-Scout 
leader  is  a  volunteer  one.  There  were,  March  1,  1920,  in  the 


GIRL-SCOUT  LEADERS  489 

United  States,  3470  active  commissioned  captains  who  are 
giving  time  each  week  to  the  leadership  of  75,000  Girl  Scouts. 
The  backbone  of  the  organization  is  here.  Scouting  for  girls 
must  stand  or  fall  by  the  quality,  enthusiasm,  and  discipline 
of  its  volunteer  leaders.  Hence  the  great  importance  of  es- 
tablishing courses  of  training  for  these  leaders  which  will 
make  clear  to  them  the  principles  of  scouting  and  will  guide 
them  through  the  trying  first  months  of  leadership.  There  are 
at  present  a  few  paid  positions  open  to  Scout  captains,  and 
there  will  be  an  increasing  number  as  the  work  grows  in  the 
larger  cities.  Their  function  is  to  take  charge  of  new  troops 
and  drill  them  until  a  prepared  volunteer  leader  can  be  found 
to  take  permanent  charge  of  the  troop.  These  paid  captains 
are  also  instrumental  in  helping  with  the  training  classes  for 
volunteer  captains. 

The  fourth  large  division  of  positions  for  Girl-Scout  workers 
is  that  of  the  more  technically  trained  person.  Young  women 
who  have  had  special  training  in  physical  education  and  are 
experts  in  swimming,  canoeing,  setting-up  drill,  and  can  pass 
the  elaborate  tests  for  the  higher  degrees  of  scouting  will  find 
excellent  opportunities  in  connection  with  Girl-Scout  camps  in 
summer,  of  which  there  will  be  many  this  year  in  connection 
with  National  Headquarters  and  in  connection  with  local 
organizations.  There  will  also  be  openings  for  camp  workers 
who  are  experts  in  nature-study,  dietetics,  and  so  forth. 

Preparation  necessary 

The  preparation  and  training  necessary  for  any  of  the  po- 
sitions at  National  Headquarters  are  the  same  as  required 
for  any  clerical  or  executive  worker  in  similar  fields,  except 
that  so  far  as  possible  these  workers  are  being  drawn  from 
among  groups  of  people  who  have  been  Girl  Scouts  or  Scout 
leaders,  or  who  have  passed  through  one  of  the  captain's 
training  courses  so  that  the  fundamental  principles  of  scout- 
ing are  familiar  to  them.  The  same  is  true  of  the  executive 
worker  in  connection  with  local  councils  throughout  the 


490  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

country.  For  the  specialized  worker  who  is  to  lead  Scouts 
or  conduct  training  courses  or  camps  for  Scouts  very  definite 
training  is  required. 

The  opportunities  for  receiving  technical  training  in 
scouting  for  girls  are  of  three  kinds : 

Certain  schools  and  universities  have  courses  in  physical 
education  into  which  the  elements  of  scouting  have  been  in- 
troduced and  Scout  leaders  of  recognized  standing  have  been 
asked  to  give  lectures  on  the  subject  before  these  students. 
Boston  University,  Johns  Hopkins,  and  Teachers  College  of 
New  York  have  all  had  such  courses,  and  as  more  leaders  are 
trained  and  experienced,  more  courses  will  be  opened  up.  In 
1918-19  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Teachers  College,  and 
Boston  University  established  fellowships  for  the  training  of 
Girl-Scout  leaders. 

The  first  National  Training  School  for  Girl-Scout  leaders  is 
conducted  each  year  at  Long  Pond,  Massachusetts.  (For  in- 
formation regarding  this  write  Miss  Katherine  R.  Briggs, 
10  AUerton  Street,  Brookline,  Massachusetts.)  Each  summer 
there  are  two  encampments  here  of  three  weeks  each.  A 
second  training  camp  is  conducted  at  Central  Valley,  New 
York,  where  for  two  weeks  an  intensive  course  in  scouting 
is  given  each  season.  Here  are  also  three  encampments  of 
Scouts  from  New  York  and  vicinity  where  training  of  leaders 
who  serve  as  councillors  will  go  on  all  through  the  summer. 
(For  information  regarding  these  camps  write  to  Department 
of  Camps,  National  Headquarters,  189  Lexington  Avenue, 
New  York  City.) 

In  addition  to  these  two  camps  many  local  councils  of  Girl 
Scouts  over  the  country  conduct  camps  for  Scouts  where 
officers  acting  as  councillors  may  receive  more  or  less  intensive 
training. 

There  are  courses  for  Girl-Scout  leaders  given  all  through 
the  year  throughout  the  country  in  connection  with  Scout 
Headquarters  in  the  different  communities.  These  vary  in 
intensity  and  extent.  In  New  York  City  classes  are  given 
one  evening  a  week  covering  a  period  of  nine  weeks. 


GIRL-SCOUT  LEADERS  491 

No  requisite  is  demanded  of  persons  wishing  to  take  these 
training  courses  other  than  that  they  must  be  genuinely  in- 
terested in  scouting  and  must  give  assurance  of  their  intention 
of  taking  the  leadership  of  troops  when  they  have  finished. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  decided  opportunity  for  advancement  in  the  ex- 
ecutive and  technical  fields  of  scouting  activity.  Excellent 
salaries  are  paid  by  National  Headquarters  to  its  organizers 
and  departmental  heads  and  also  to  executives  and  instructors 
in  the  summer  camps  and  training  schools. 

National  field  captains  are  earning  as  much  as  $1800  to 
$2500  and  heads  of  departments  at  National  Headquarters 
are  earning  between  $2000  and  $3000. 

Opportunities  for  advancement  in  the  clerical  field  are 
naturally  limited,  but  even  here  every  consideration  is  given 
to  promote  persons  who  show  ability  to  better  positions.  In 
the  executive  and  specialized  fields  opportunities  are  almost 
unlimited,  for  as  good  executives  build  up  an  organization 
they  make  possible  for  themselves  a  larger  and  larger  field  of 
activity  and  may  earn  for  themselves  higher  and  higher  sal- 
aries. This  is  especially  true  of  an  organization  which  is  not 
charitable  in  its  nature  and  which  is  increasingly  self-sup- 
porting. In  the  field  of  personal  service  as  leaders  of  Girl 
Scouts  financial  advantages  are  naturally  limited,  but  many 
workers  with  ability  are  being  advanced  from  these  positions 
to  executive  positions  as  they  demonstrate  their  capacity  to 
fill  them. 

Qualifications 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  in  scouting  for  girls 
are  those  common  to  all  executives  plus  affection  for  and 
genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  girl  herself.  Those  who 
are  to  become  the  personal  leaders  of  troops  of  girls  must  have 
personal  magnetism,  coupled  with  the  understanding  of  how 
to  control  without  tyrannizing  over  a  group,  of  how  to  guide 


492  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

without  dictating,  of  how  to  develop  what  is  found  in  the  girl 
rather  than  to  fix  upon  her  a  set  of  ideas  or  rule  of  action. 

Advantages 

The  advantages  of  scouting  for  girls  as  a  profession  for 
women  are  obvious;  opportunities  for  wide  and  vital  contacts 
with  educational  movements  and  leaders  throughout  the 
country,  opportunities  for  travel  and  delightful  out-of-door 
life  in  the  summer  camps,  and  above  all  the  inspiration  of  the 
vital  contacts  with  the  Girl  Scouts  themselves. 


HOSPITAL  SOCIAL  WORK 

IDA  M.  CANNON 

Chief,  Social  Service  Department,  Massachusetts  General  Hospital 

Description  of  occupation 

Hospital  social  work  is  primarily  skilled  personal  service  — 
social  case  work  —  with  patients  in  hospital  wards  or  attend- 
ing dispensary  clinics.  The  necessity  for  having  such  a  per- 
sonal representative  of  the  patient's  interests  has  arisen  be- 
cause, in  the  development  of  scientific  medicine  and  its 
complex  organization  in  our  large  medical  institutions,  spe- 
cialization has  resulted  in  a  wide  distribution  of  the  func- 
tions of  admission,  examination,  diagnosis,  and  treatment  of 
patients.  Specialization  means  quite  definite  concentration 
on  a  limited  field.  It  is  important  that  there  should  be  some 
one  in  the  hospital  who  has  the  time,  skill,  and  interest  to  see 
all  this  complexity  in  its  practical  relation  to  the  patient's 
problem  of  after-care  and  the  social  situation  at  home. 

The  service  of  the  hospital  social  worker  may  be  simply 
interpretation  and  explanation  of  the  doctor's  advice;  it  may 
be  a  long,  careful  working-out  with  the  patient  and  his  family 
of  a  complex  social  situation.  The  industrial  worker  whose 
heart  disease  makes  it  necessary  for  him  to  change  his  work 
and  habits  of  living;  the  tubercular  mother  whose  family 
must  be  carefully  planned  for  while  she  is  in  the  sanatorium; 


HOSPITAL  SOCIAL  WORK  493 

the  mother  who  must  be  taught  the  care  of  a  child  whose 
digestive  upset  is  due  to  faulty  feeding;  the  unmarried  girl, 
facing  maternity;  the  patient  with  chronic  disease  for  whom 
long-time  care  must  be  arranged;  the  patient  w^ho  must  be 
helped  to  face  with  courage  a  future  of  blindness  or  death 
from  an  incurable  disease;  these  are  the  kinds  of  human  prob- 
lems that  lie  back  of  the  doors  of  our  great  medical  institu- 
tions. 

Since  the  establishment  of  social  work  as  a  recognized  and 
necessary  part  of  an  efficient  medical  institution  some  fifteen 
years  ago,  the  movement  has  spread  rapidly,  and  the  function 
of  the  hospital  social  worker  has  developed.  Aside  from  the 
primary  concern  of  the  hospital  social  worker  with  the  plan 
of  treatment,  doctors  are  now  looking  to  them  for  more  ac- 
curate data  concerning  the  family  and  the  personal  history, 
the  temperament  of  the  patient,  and  other  factors  that  he 
cannot  always  get  accurately  at  the  bedside. 

Hospital  social  workers  are  increasingly  asked  to  assist  in 
medical-social  research.  Many  studies  made  by  physicians 
involve  the  necessity  of  studying  the  patient,  his  heredity,  his 
conditions  of  living  and  work,  his  habits  and  long-time  super- 
vision of  his  physical  condition.  Medical-social  case  work 
and  experience  in  statistical  method  are  necessary  for  this 
type  of  work. 

They  are  also  called  upon  as  assistants  in  hospital  ad- 
ministration. The  admission  desk  of  the  dispensary  and  the 
hospital  is  a  strategic  place  for  the  social  point  of  view.  In 
several  medical  institutions  medical-social  workers  have  been 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  admission,  determining  the 
patient's  fitness  (economically)  for  admission  and  the  suitable 
rate  of  board. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

There  is  as  yet  no  widely  recognized  standard  training  for 
the  hospital  social  worker.  It  is  pretty  generally  recognized 
that  social  case  work  training  is  essential  for  equipment  for 


494  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  hospital  social  worker.  Some  people  maintain  that  a 
nurse's  training  is  necessary,  but  this  is  not  widely  accepted. 
The  hospital  social  worker  should  be  equipped  with  a  capacity 
for  social  case  work  and  sufficient  knowledge  of  disease  to 
apply  this  case  work  experience  to  the  problems  of  the  pa- 
tients in  the  hospital.  She  should  have  enough  acquaintance 
with  hospital  and  dispensary  routine  to  work  readily  with 
the  doctors  and  the  administrative  staff. 

In  some  places  workers  are  still  being  trained  by  the  ap- 
prenticeship method,  but  several  training  schools  have  been 
started.  No  training  course  offered  is  an  entirely  satisfactory 
one,  but  these  are  being  improved  each  year.  The  recog- 
nized training  courses  are  as  follows: 

Boston  School  of  Social  Work,  18  Somerset  Street,  Boston. 
One-year  and  two-year  courses.  The  first  year  covers  the 
academic  term,  September  to  June,  and  gives  the  foundation 
training  in  social  work  with  sixteen  hours  weekly  of  field  work 
and  case  work  which  may  be  elected  in  a  social  service  de- 
partment. The  course  covers  the  development  of  social 
work,  principles  of  mental  and  physical  health,  social  work 
with  families  and  with  children,  neighborhood  and  commu- 
nity work,  rural  problems,  and  social  inquiry.  Elementary 
economics  and  psychology  are  prerequisites.  Those  who 
have  satisfactorily  finished  this  course  can  secure  assistants' 
positions  in  social  service  departments.  The  second-year 
course  is  urged  for  all  those  who  wish  to  prepare  them- 
selves adequately  for  responsible  positions  in  hospital  social 
work.  The  major  part  of  the  second  year  is  spent  in  varied 
field  work  experience  in  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  with  in- 
terpretive conferences  and  weekly  lectures  at  the  school. 
At  the  end  of  the  course  work  in  the  organization  of  de- 
partments and  executive  experience  are  given.  College  grad- 
uates are  eligible  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  at 
Simmons  College. 

New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  105  East  22d  Street, 
New  York.   A  diploma  is  granted  after  a  two-year  course. 


HOSPITAL  SOCIAL  WORK  495 

The  first  year's  work  is  selected  from  courses  which  must  in- 
clude hygiene  and  preventable  disease,  the  method  of  social 
case  work,  the  family  and  living  standards,  human  behavior 
and  its  disorders,  and  field  work.  The  field  work  during  the 
first  semester  (first  year)  must  be  done  in  a  family  case  work 
agency  and  in  the  second  semester  (first  year)  may  be  done 
in  a  social  service  department.  Throughout  the  second  year 
a  maximum  of  four  days  a  week  and  a  minimum  of  two  (de- 
pending upon  previous  experience  in  this  field)  are  spent  in 
field  work  in  a  social  service  department.  A  vocational 
course  is  offered  in  which  the  field  work  experience  of  the 
students  is  discussed.  In  connection  with  this  seminar  ar- 
rangements are  usually  made  for  the  students  to  attend 
medical  clinics. 

The  Pennsylvania  School  for  Social  Service,  1302  Pine 
Street,  Philadelphia.  One  year's  training  in  which  the  stu- 
dent attends  courses  in  social  work  offered  at  the  school  with 
special  lectures  on  medical-social  case  work.  This  course 
covers  also  American  social  problems,  industrial  problems, 
psychology,  social  medicine,  public  health,  housing,  publicity 
and  statistics,  immigration,  dietetics,  and  record-keeping. 
This  academic  training  is  supplemented  by  field  work  in  a 
social  service  department.  No  degrees  are  granted,  but  a 
certificate  is  issued  on  satisfactory  completion  of  the  one- 
year  course. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  De- 
partment of  Nursing  and  Health.  Course  open  to  graduate 
nurses  covers  one  academic  year.  Lectures  are  given  at 
Teachers  College,  fifteen  to  eighteen  hours  weekly.  The 
course  during  the  current  year  has  included  the  following 
subjects:  Sociology  and  its  practical  applications,  principles 
and  methods  of  modern  social  work,  statistics,  principles, 
and  methods,  psychology  for  social  workers,  mental  hygiene, 
municipal  sanitation  and  public  health  administration,  prob- 
lems in  hospital  social  service,  principles  of  public  health 
nursing,  community  organization.  In  addition,  there  has  been 


496  CAEEERS  FOR  WOMEN 

a  series  of  lectures  dealing  with  the  relation  of  hospital  social 
service  to  special  aspects  of  medical  work.  From  fifteen  to 
eighteen  hom-s  weekly,  for  one  term,  are  devoted  to  field 
work,  under  supervision,  in  the  social  service  departments 
of  selected  hospitals.  Further  field  work  of  not  less  than 
twenty-one  hours  weekly,  for  a  period  of  four  weeks,  in  one 
of  the  district  offices  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society 
is  required  of  each  student. 

The  Smith  College  Training  School  for  Social  Work  is  a 
graduate  professional  school  offering  work  that  falls  into  three 
divisions :  a  summer  session  of  eight  weeks,  of  theoretical  in- 
struction combined  with  clinical  observation;  a  period  of  nine 
months*  practical  experience,  and  a  concluding  summer  ses- 
sion of  eight  weeks  of  advanced  study.  The  summer  sessions 
are  held  at  Smith  College,  Northampton,  Massachusetts. 
Students  in  medical-social  work  are  placed  for  nine  months* 
practice  in  social  case  work  with  out-patient  departments  of 
general  hospitals  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore. 
They  meet  for  instruction  in  weekly  conferences  with  a  group 
leader  in  each  of  the  cities  mentioned.  A  local  supervisor 
directs  their  work  in  the  social  service  department  of  the  hos- 
pital in  which  they  are  placed. 

Bryn  Mawr  College,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pennsylvania.  Post- 
graduate course  in  the  Carola  Woerishoffer  Graduate  Depart- 
ment of  Social  Economy  and  Social  Research.  Academic 
work  at  the  college,  with  field  work  in  social  service  depart- 
ments in  Philadelphia  hospitals.  Degree  of  M.A.  and  Ph.D. 
to  graduates  of  colleges  of  approved  standing  on  completion 
of  requirements. 

University  of  Indiana,  Department  of  Social  Service,  In- 
dianapolis. Graduate  course  in  medical  social  service.  Pre- 
requisite of  undergraduate  course  in  medical  sociology.  Field 
work  and  research  in  the  social  service  departments  of  the 
Robert  E.  Long  Hospital  and  University  School  of  Medicine 
Dispensary  under  the  direction  of  the  director  of  the  depart- 
ment, who  also  has  charge  of  theoretical  work.    Credits  in 


HOSPITAX  SOCIAL  WORK  497 

this  course  may  apply  toward  a  degree  in  the  Department  of 
Economics  and  Sociology  at  the  University  of  Indiana  at 
Bloomingdale. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  demand  for  well-trained  hospital  social  workers,  espe- 
cially those  with  executive  experience,  is  constant  and  increas- 
ing. Workers  in  training  are,  however,  usually  urged  to  give 
two  or  three  years  to  medical-social  case  work  before  assum- 
ing executive  positions.  The  demand  for  well-trained  women 
who  have  had  a  broad  academic  foundation  is  insistent. 

Financial  return 

The  salary  scale  is  now  in  a  state  of  some  instability  because 
of  the  shifting  costs  of  living.  Trained  case  workers  are  paid 
from  $1000  to  $1400;  executives  in  charge  of  clinics  and  de- 
partments are  paid  from  $1200  to  $2500,  and  occasionally 
$3000,  according  to  their  abihty,  length  of  experience,  and  the 
bulk  of  responsibility  that  they  are  carrying. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

No  one  should  go  into  hospital  social  work  unless  she  cares 
about  working  with  people.  It  is  essential  that  the  hospital 
social  worker  should  consider  herseK  primarily  as  represent- 
ing the  interests  of  the  individual  patient.  She  should  have 
a  native  poise  and  capacity  for  intuitive  understanding  of  a 
great  variety  of  people  —  patients,  hospital  administrators, 
doctors,  philanthropic,  public,  and  other  professional  workers. 
It  is  important  that  she  should  have  a  stable  philosophy  of 
life,  native  good  sense,  and  a  wholesome  and  kindly  person- 
ality.    Analytical  power  is  also  of  value. 

Intellectual  training  should  give  the  worker  a  broad  ex- 
perience and  understanding  of  people  in  varied  conditions  of 
society.  She  should  sufficiently  learn  the  technique  of  social 
case  work  so  that  she  can  apply  it  in  such  a  way  that  it  will 
not  be  manifest  as  technique.   She  should  learn  to  under- 


A 


498  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

stand  the  point  of  view  of  those  in  the  institution  with  whom 
she  is  working  —  doctors,  nurses,  and  hospital  administrators. 
She  should  understand  the  point  of  view  of  the  social  workers 
in  the  community  with  whom  she  is  associated,  their  ideals 
and  something  of  their  technique.  She  should  know  statisti- 
cal method.  A  knowledge  of  languages  is  also  valuable,  es- 
pecially Italian,  some  of  the  Slavic  languages,  and  German. 
(This  would  be  affected  by  the  locality  in  which  she  worked, 
but  a  knowledge  of  the  language  diflficulty  is  important.) 

Advantages 

For  those  who  care  about  working  with  people,  there  is  prob- 
ably no  form  of  social  work  in  which  an  advantageous  contact 
with  people  can  be  more  readily  made  than  in  hospital  social 
work.  It  is  a  special  privilege  to  work  with  a  scientific  pro- 
fession like  that  of  medicine  where  one  supplements  the  work 
of  physicians  whose  standards  one  can  respect.  There  is  deep 
satisfaction  in  serving  a  very  real  need  and  one  is  stimulated 
to  a  high  standard  of  work. 

Disadvantages 

Hospital  social  work  is  still  a  growing  profession.  Standards 
of  training  and  standards  of  service  are  not  yet  fixed.  Social 
work  has  so  recently  come  out  of  the  position  of  volunteer 
service  that  the  financial  return  is  not  as  large  as  that  in 
business  positions  and  some  other  occupations. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Beginning  in  1905,  the  hospital  social  service  movement  has 
extended  throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada.  There 
are  now  between  350  and  400  departments  employing  from 
one  to  thirty-five  workers.  There  is  a  great  demand  for 
these  workers,  especially  at  present  in  the  United  States 
Public  Health  Service  Hospitals  under  the  Red  Cross,  and 
also  throughout  the  Middle  West  and  West  where  the  work 
is  rapidly  developing.  There  is  a  constant  demand  for  workers 
throughout  the  East,  as  well. 


THE  MENTAL-HYGIENE  WORKER  499 

Service  to  society 

Hospital  social  work  has  an  obvious  service  to  render  in  the 
socializing  of  our  great  medical  institutions.  It  has  much  to 
do  with  raising  the  standard  of  service  in  these  institutions. 
It  has  also  been  demonstrated  that  social  work  in  general 
needs  those  who  have  had  experience  in  medical  work;  there- 
fore the  whole  field  of  social  case  work  offers  an  opportunity 
for  those  who  have  had  medical-social  case  work  experience. 
With  the  present  trend  of  the  public  health  campaign,  social 
workers  have  a  new  and  growing  field  in  which  they  are  al- 
ways welcome. 

Effect  on  the  worker 

Those  who  have  satisfactorily  found  their  place  in  hospital 
social  work  have  the  advantage  of  finding  a  real  stimulus  in 
their  contacts  with  the  medical  profession  and  with  general 
social  interests  in  the  community.  This  opportunity  should 
be  a  broadening  and  a  developing  one  for  any  one  who  has 
the  capacity  to  take  advantage  of  it. 

Suggested  reading 

"Social  Service  and  the  Art  of  Healing"  —  Richard  C.  Cabot, 
M.D. 

"Social  Work  in  Hospitals*'  —  Ida  M.  Cannon. 

"Dispensaries"  —  Davis  and  Warner. 

Reports  of  the  Social  Service  Departments  at:  University  of 
Indiana,  Boston  Dispensary,  University  of  Pennsylvania 
Hospital,  Barnes  Memorial  Hospital,  St.  Louis. 

THE  MENTAL-HYGIENE  WORKER 

V.  MAY  MacDONALD 

Organizer  of  Social  Work,  National  Committee  far  Mental  Hygiene 

Description  of  occupation 

The  recent  development  of  psychiatry  from  a  descriptive 
study  into  an  analytical  science  has  brought  with  it  recogni- 
tion of  the  need  for  assistance  in  securing  a  picture  of  the 


500  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

background  of  the  disorder,  and  in  promoting  a  satisfactory 
readjustment  of  the  patient  to  his  surroundings.  Psychiatrists 
may  give  a  few  separate  hours  to  repeated  examinations  and 
consultations  with  a  mental  patient,  but  they  cannot  search 
out  in  school  and  factory  and  home  the  important  details  of 
the  individual's  reactions  to  the  social  environment  in  which 
he  lives  and  works.  They  may  outline  the  desirable  course  to 
pursue  in  reestablishing  him  in  the  community  when  con- 
valescent, but  they  cannot  follow  him  personally  in  his  work, 
and  recreations,  and  family  life.  An  assistant  trained  to  com- 
prehend the  sick  man's  mental  limitations  and  pitfalls,  and 
skilled  in  using  the  resources  of  the  community,  is  required. 

In  response  to  this  need  a  new  type  of  worker  has  been 
evolved.  A  psychiatric  social  worker  must  be  able  to  secure 
an  accurate  picture,  from  a  psychiatric  standpoint,  of  a  pa- 
tient's educational,  industrial,  and  social  background.  She 
must  so  thoroughly  understand  his  mental  processes  that  she 
can  supervise  in  his  community  life  the  mental  readjustments 
suggested  by  the  psychiatrist  for  his  restoration;  she  must  be 
able  to  help  in  adapting  the  individual  to  his  environment, 
and  the  environment  to  the  individual. 

Mental  hygiene  covers  a  large  domain  of  interest  and  activ- 
ity. There  is  work  with  children  —  subnormal,  super-normal, 
abnormal  —  work  which  offers  the  greatest  promise  of  devel- 
opment. Teachers  who  have  studied  child  development  will 
be  attracted  to  this  phase  of  the  subject.  There  is  work  with 
border-line  and  incipient  mental  cases  who  may  be  treated 
at  mental  clinics  and  never  require  hospital  residence.  This 
constitutes  a  very  important  method  of  prevention  in  the 
community.  There  is  the  work  of  supervision  and  reestab- 
lishment  of  discharged  or  paroled  cases  from  mental  hospitals. 
This  is  most  often  carried  on  by  a  worker  established  in  the 
hospital,  but  following  the  patients  to  their  homes.  There  is 
the  work  of  research  and  restoration  in  connection  with  court 
clinics,  where  delinquency  and  crime  are  often  found  to  be 
due  to  mental  conditions.  There  are  the  social  aspects  of  the 


THE  MENTAL-HYGIENE  WORKER        501 

work  of  selection,  diagnosis,  and  adaptation  of  the  great  army 
of  industry,  where  the  so-called  human  element  has  often  been 
a  baffling  obstacle  to  desired  efficiency. 

Training  required 

This  specialized  work  requires  practical  knowledge  of  certain 
phases  of  psychology  and  sociology,  training  in  applied  psy- 
chiatry and  in  the  technique  of  social  case  work,  and  a  long 
practice  period  in  which  this  knowledge  may  be  applied  in 
practical  experience  with  various  types  of  mentally  sick 
people.  Courses  of  training  in  psychiatric  social  work  have 
been  established  at  the  Smith  College  School  of  Social  Work, 
Northampton,  the  New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  and 
the  Pennsylvania  School  of  Social  Work.  These  vary  in  length 
from  one  to  two  years,  inclusive  of  the  field  work.  Besides 
these  courses  have  been  established  recently  in  Chicago  and 
Baltimore,  and  others  are  being  planned. 

College  students  expecting  to  enter  this  field  later  might 
well  devote  special  attention  to  biology,  sociology,  and  psy- 
chology. These  subjects  have  a  basic  relation  to  the  work  and 
would  make  easy  the  approach  to  the  special  training. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  qualifications  needed  for  successful  work  are,  first,  a  good 
general  education.  A  college  degree  makes  a  convenient 
standard,  although  an  equivalent  amount  of  study  and  train- 
ing is  generally  accepted  by  the  schools.  Some  experience 
in  related  fields  of  work,  such  as  general  social  work,  or  teach- 
ing, is  an  asset.  A  training  in  a  first-class  school  of  nursing 
gives  an  invaluable  background  of  medical  knowledge  and 
understanding.  The  personal  qualities  essential  are  poise, 
judgment,  social  sympathy.  Since  the  nature  of  the  work 
requires  most  intimate  confidential  relations  with  mentally 
distressed  people,  a  certain  maturity  in  the  worker  is  very 
desirable,  a  maturity  that  comes  only  from  living  and  work- 
ing.   For  this  reason  a  period  of  practical  experience  after 


502  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

leaving  college  in  such  human-contact  work  as  that  suggested 
above  is  very  valuable  as  a  preparation  for  this  field.  The  in- 
evitable mental  demands  upon  a  psychiatric  social  worker 
makes  this  an  unsuitable  calling  for  individuals  with  certain 
psychopathic  traits.  Neurotic,  self-centered,  or  unstable  per- 
sons should  not  undertake  the  supervision  of  others  in  like 
case.  In  this  field  the  mentally  blind  or  even  short-sighted 
could  lead  their  suffering  fellows  only  to  the  near-by  ditch. 

Supply  and  demand  —  Financial  return 
With  the  rapidly  increasing  public  interest  in  mental  abnor- 
malities the  opportunities  for  educational  and  preventive 
work  are  being  multiplied.  Workers  who  carry  a  year  or  two 
of  successful  work  with  an  established  organization  find 
themselves  called  on  to  be  pioneers  in  new  centers.  Remuner- 
ation varies  from  $1600  a  year,  or  $1000  with  maintenance,  to 
$2400  a  year,  or  $1500  with  maintenance.  In  a  few  exceptional 
instances  a  salary  of  $3000  is  given.  The  work  has  the  com- 
bined attraction  of  scientific  research  and  human  contacts, 
and  requires  actual  out-of-door  work  in  visiting  as  well  as 
executive  work  in  an  oflBce.  There  is  no  dull  routine. 

Requests  for  these  workers  are  coming  from  Wisconsin, 
Maine,  Georgia,  Utah,  as  well  as  from  places  nearer  the  pres- 
ent centers  of  training.  State  hospitals  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  are  anxious  to  establish  social  service  departments; 
mental  hygiene  societies  are  asking  for  workers  to  establish 
social  service  for  individuals  in  the  communities;  juvenile 
courts  are  awaking  to  the  need  of  mental  clinics  with  social 
workers.  At  present  there  are  probably  not  more  than  two 
hundred  qualified  workers  in  this  field,  although  the  need  is 
every  day  more  apparent. 

Advantages 

This  field  of  applied  psychiatry,  with  its  immense  contribu- 
tion to  the  solution  of  the  great  social  questions  of  delin- 
quency, crime,  hereditary  pauperism,  and  prostitution,  offers 


THE  POLICEWOMAN  503 

an  opportunity  for  interesting  constructive  work,  and  should 
appeal  to  the  best  type  of  women. 

Reading 

Their  interest  may  be  quickened  by  reading  such  books  as 
"Instincts  of  the  Herd  in  Peace  and  War,"  by  William  Trot- 
ter; "Mental  Hygiene  of  Childhood,"  by  William  A.  White; 
"Psychology  of  Insanity,"  by  Bernard  Hart;  "Mental  Adap- 
tation," by  Lyman  Wells;  and  "Mental  Mechanisms,"  by 
William  A.  White.  Among  enlightening  pamphlets  on  various 
phases  of  the  work  are  "Preventable  Forms  of  Mental  Dis- 
ease," by  E.  Stanley  Abbot;  "What  is  Practicable  in  Preven- 
tion of  Mental  Defect,"  by  Walter  E.  Fernald;  "Relation  of 
Social  and  Economic  Factors  to  Mental  Hygiene,"  by  C. 
Macfie  Campbell;  "The  Movement  for  a  Mental  Hygiene  of 
Industry,"  by  E.  E.  Southard. 

Interest  once  aroused  is  not  likely  to  lapse.  Fresh  trails  are 
being  blazed  through  the  wilderness  of  mental  maladjust- 
ments. Education,  vocational  guidance,  industrial  eflSciency, 
and  social  and  political  relationships  are  bound  to  feel  the 
influence  of  this  scientific  effort  for  clearer  thinking  and  better 
living. 

THE  POLICEWOMAN 

MINA  C.  VAN  WINKLE       / 

Washington,  D.C.  \ 

Description  of  occupation 

A  POLICEWOMAN  is  really  the  protective  worker  with  police 
power.  All  that  you  are  and  all  that  you  have  to  give  can  be 
utilized  in  this  work  because  the  greatest  opportunity  for 
service  in  the  world  lies  in  police  work.  Ordinarily,  the  girl 
or  boy,  man  or  woman,  who  violates  the  law  comes  first  to  the 
police.  Social  workers  may  readily  interpret  for  themselves 
the  importance  of  the  "social  first  aid."  The  police  never 
sleep.  Twenty-four  hours  a  day,  seven  days  a  week,  and  three 


504  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

hundred  and  sixty-five  days  a  year  they  are  the  law  enforcers, 
guides  to  proper  relief,  and  they  are  constantly  obliged  to 
diagnose  cases  and  make  decisions  of  the  most  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  individual  and  the  State.  The  service  to  society 
is  unlimited. 

The  duties  of  the  director  of  a  woman's  bureau  are  the  direc- 
tion, instruction,  and  supervision  of  subordinates  in  the  main- 
tenance of  law  and  order;  the  protection  of  life  and  property; 
the  prevention  of  crimes  and  disorders;  to  assist  in  the  control 
of  venereal  disease  and  its  treatment  and  the  public  health, 
especially  as  it  concerns  women  and  children;  to  institute 
special  investigations  and  exercise  special  supervision  in  the 
suppression  of  vice;  to  receive  and  make  reports,  keep  records 
and  to  perform  or  have  performed  miscellaneous  clerical  work; 
to  promote  all  other  important  related  work  for  the  preven- 
tion of  delinquency  and  the  protection  of  children. 

Where  police  departments  have  trained  workers  who  engage 
in  constructive  social  work,  those  communities  can  easily 
dispense  with  two  or  three  private  social  enterprises  that  are 
usually  needed  when  the  public  agencies  fail  in  their  responsi- 
bilities. Policewomen  are  aiming  to  bring  about  a  close  re- 
lationship between  social  workers,  the  public,  and  the  police. 

There  are  five  classes  of  activities;  protective,  preventive, 
corrective,  constructive,  and  general  police  work.  These  in- 
clude constructive  follow-up  work  for  women  and  girls,  secur- 
ing employment,  improving  and  changing  environment  that 
causes  delinquency,  voluntary  probation,  voluntary  commit- 
ments to  institutions  where  there  are  inadequate  laws,  survey 
and  supervision  of  dance-halls,  movies,  etc.,  court  commit- 
ments to  institutions  and  probation,  physical  and  psycho- 
pathic examinations,  careful  investigation,  patrol  with  inves- 
tigation of  questionable  circumstances  and  places,  the  detec- 
tion of  crime,  apprehension  of  criminals,  assistance  to  branches 
of  police  departments  in  order  to  establish  the  evidence  in 
special  cases,  locating  missing  persons,  assistance  in  case  work 
for  the  police  and  work  with  juvenile  and  criminal  courts. 


THE  POLICEWOMAN  505 

Preparation  necessary  —  Qualifications 

It  is  desired  to  secure  women  for  this  occupation  who  have 
had  college  training  or  training  and  experience  in  social  work, 
school  teaching,  nursing,  a  knowledge  of  sociology,  economics, 
and  experience  in  dealing  with  human  beings.  Keen  power 
of  observation  and  insight,  knowledge  of  municipal  laws,  of 
police  rules  and  regulations,  some  understanding  of  criminal 
law,  of  the  rules  of  evidence,  tact,  good  judgment,  good  physi- 
cal condition,  good  moral  character,  and  good  personal  appear- 
ance, are  necessary  qualifications. 

Training  should  include  field  work  in  some  police  depart- 
ment. At  present  all  training  for  policewomen  is  being  given 
by  the  departments  in  which  they  may  be  employed. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  considerable  opportunity  for  advancement.  In 
many  police  departments  women  are  eligible  for  promotion 
exactly  as  the  men  are;  i.e.,  there  are  competitive  civil  service 
examinations  for  members  of  the  force  or  promotion  for  effi- 
ciency and  exceptional  service. 

Financial  return 

The  minimum  salary  in  any  city  is  $1000  per  annum.  The 
highest  minimum  salary  is  $2000.  The  same  opportunity  for 
advancement  does  not  exist  that  prevails  where  salaries  be- 
gin at  a  lower  point  and  move  upward.  In  Washington  the 
salaries  are  from  $1580  to  $1780  basic.  This  may  be  increased 
through  the  reclassification  of  salaries  or  subject  to  legislation. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantage  in  police  work  is  that  one  is  in  municipal  serv- 
ice where  one  can  give  her  maximum  time  and  energy  for  the 
good  of  the  cause.  The  policewoman  does  not  get  into  a  rut. 
The  service  alternates  day  and  night.  Every  case  must  be 
treated  differently.  There  are  no  two  cases  alike.  While  good 
case  work  is  essential,  facts  must  be  obtained  with  two  motives, 
first  to  help  the  girl  all  we  can,  and,  if  necessary,  to  prosecute 


506  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

to  the  limit.  The  work  brings  her  in  contact  with  every  public 
and  private  social  agency  and  with  every  agency  for  good  in 
the  community.  No  woman  can  be  a  good  police  officer  with- 
out the  maximum  development  of  her  own  personality.  Per- 
sonal initiative  is  the  most  essential  factor.  In  community 
service  of  this  kind  she  has  the  opportunity  to  prove  the  value 
and  possibility  of  clean,  intelligently  administered  police 
work.   No  community  is  better  than  its  police  department. 

Other  advantages  are:  a  pension  of  fifty  per  cent  of  salary; 
twenty  days'  annual  leave  and  thirty  days'  sick-leave  with 
pay;  cheap  insurance  and  free  medical  service. 

The  disadvantages  are  long  hours  in  emergencies,  a  seven- 
day  week  in  many  cities,  and  night  work.  However,  night 
work  is  the  most  valuable  service  rendered. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  no  statistics  available  as  to  the  extent  of  the  occu- 
pation. We  know,  however,  that  the  work  is  already  estab- 
lished in  about  three  hundred  different  cities,  varying  from 
one  policewoman  to  a  separate  unit  in  the  police  department, 
known  as  a  woman's  bureau,  with  as  many  as  twenty  women 
employed  and  a  director  in  charge.  Chicago  has  the  greatest 
number  of  policewomen,  but  operates  in  an  unorganized  way. 
The  demand  for  women  is  far  in  excess  of  the  supply. 

Reading 

"Elements  of  Water  Bacteriology"  —  Prescott  and  Winslow. 

"Practical  Bacteriology  and  Parasitology"  —  Stitt. 

"Medical  and  Veterinary  Entomology"  —  Herms. 

"A  Textbook  of  Hygiene"  —  Rohe  and  Robin. 

"Physical  Diagnosis"  —  Todd. 

"Textile  Fabrics"  —  Matthews. 

"Microscopy  of  Drinking  Water"  —  Whipple. 

"Infections  and  Parasitic  Diseases"  —  Langfeld. 

"The  Female  Offender"  —  Lombroso. 

"Lombroso's  Criminal  Man"  —  Ferrero. 


THE  POLICEWOMAN  507 

"  Being  Well-bom  "  —  Guyer. 

"Police  Practice  and  Procedure"  —  Cahalane. 

"Pathological  Lying"  —  Healy. 

"Outline  of  Psychobiology"  —  Dunlap. 

"Experimental  Sociology"  —  Kellor. 

"Bacteriological  Methods  in  Food  and  Drugs  Laboratories" 

—  Schneider. 
"Microscopy  of  Foods"  —  Winton. 
"Powdered  Vegetable  Drugs"  —  Schneider. 
"Hereditary  Genius"  —  Galton. 
"Degeneration"  —  Lombroso. 
"The  Individual  Delinquent"  —  Healy. 
"Der  Verbrecher"  —  Baer. 
"Idiocy  and  Imbecility"  —  Ireland. 

"Lehrbuch  der  Gerichtlichen  Psychologic" — Kraflt-Ebing. 
"Heredity"  —  Lithgow. 

"Die  Objekte  der  Verbrechens"  —  Oppenheim. 
"Insanity,  Ancient  and  Modern"  —  Tuke. 
"The  Measurement  of  Intelhgence"  —  Terman. 
"Feeblemindedness  —  Its    Causes    and    Consequences"  — 

Goddard. 
"Psychopathia  Sexualis"  —  Krafft-Ebing. 
"Preventive  Medicine  and  Hygiene"  —  M.  J.  Rosenau. 
"The  New  Public  Health"  —  H.  W.  Hill. 
"A  Manual  for  Health  Officers"  —  J.  S.  McNutt. 
"Legal  Principles  of  Public  Health  Administration"  —  H.  B. 

Hemenway. 
"The  Sources  and  Modes  of  Infection"  —  Chas.  V.  Chapin. 
"Modern  Theories  of  Criminality"  —  DeQuiros. 
"Criminal  Psychology"  —  Gross. 
"Crime,  Its  Causes  and  Remedies"  —  Lombroso. 
"The  Individualization  of  Punishment"  —  Sallielles. 
"Penal  Philosophy"  —  Tarde. 
"Crime  and  Its  Repression"  —  Aschaffenburg. 
"Criminality"  —  Garofolo. 
"Criminality  and  Economic  Conditions"  —  Bonger. 


508  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Criminal  Sociology"  —  Ferri. 

California  Codes  and  Statutes. 

"Studies  in  Forensic  Psychiatry'*  —  Glueck. 

"Blackstone*s  Commentaries"  —  Cooley's  Edition. 

"Wigmore  on  Evidence"  —  Wigmore. 

"New  Criminal  Law"  —  Bishop. 

"New  Criminal  Procedure"  —  Bishop. 

"Criminal  Law"  —  May. 

"Principles  of  Judicial  Proof"  —  Wigmore. 

"Police  Administration"  —  Leonard  Fuld. 

"European  Police  Systems"  —  R.  B.  Fosdick. 

"Criminal  Investigation"  —  Gross. 

"Manuel  de  Police  Scientifique"  —  Reiss. 

"La  PoHce  et  I'enquete"  — Niceforo. 

"Questioned  Documents"  —  A.  S.  Osbom. 

"Ames  on  Forgery"  —  D.  T.  Ames. 

"Modern  Microscopy"  —  M.  I.  Cross. 

"Manipulation  of  the  Microscope"  —  E.  Bausch. 

"The  Microscope  and  Its  Revelations"  —  W.  B.  Carpenter. 

"Photographic  Metrique  de"  —  A.  Bertillon. 

"  Legal  Photography  " —  A  Bertillon. 

"La  Photographic  Judiciaire"  —  R.  A.  Reiss. 

"Le  Portrait  Parle"  —  R.  A.  Reiss. 

"A  B  C  of  Photo-Micrography"  —  W.  H.  Wamsley. 

"Manual  of  Toxicology"  —  A.  H.  Brundage. 

"  Finger  Print  Instructor  "  —  F.  Kuhne. 

"Finger  Print  Systems"  —  L.  Seymour. 

"Finger  Print  Classification"  — E.  R.  Henry. 

"Dactiloscopia  Comprando  del  Nuevos  Sistema  Argentine" 

—  Juan  Vucetich. 
"Decimal  System"  —  M.  Dewey. 
"Modus  Operandi  in  Criminal  Investigation  and  Detection" 

L.  W.  Atcherly. 
"System  of  Identification"  —  A.  Bertillon. 
"Social  Diagnosis"  —  Mary  Richmond. 
All  other  books  covering  the  field  of  social  work. 


THE  PROBATION  OFFICER  509 


THE  PROBATION  OFFICER 


./ 


ALFRETTA  P.  McCLURE 

Probation  Officer,  Boston  Court  House 

Description  of  occupation 

The  great  interest  to  be  found  in  probation  work  can  perhaps 
best  be  explained  by  saying  that  the  work  constitutes  the  next 
to  the  last  line  of  defense  in  human  conservation.  First  comes 
the  help  that  private  organizations  and  individuals  can  give 
to  the  unfortunate  or  deficient;  then  the  work  that  the  proba- 
tion officer  can  do  for  these  people  when  they  finally  have  had 
to  be  brought  before  the  criminal  court,  and  that  failing,  there 
is  left  only  the  aid  that  the  attaches  of  the  custodial  institu- 
tions, public  or  private,  can  give.  In  other  words,  probation 
work  is  the  last  defense  to  the  liberty  of  the  individual,  defi- 
cient, delinquent,  or  merely  unfortunate. 

In  Massachusetts  it  is  the  duty  of  the  probation  officers  to 
interview  every  individual  arrested  for  a  misdemeanor  or  a 
crime,  in  order  that  if  the  court  finds  the  defendant  guilty, 
they  may  be  ready  to  make  a  recommendation  to  the  court 
looking  toward  the  wisest  possible  social  disposition  of  that 
individual's  case.  Sometimes  the  judge  continues  the  case,  the 
defendant  being  either  in  custody  or  on  bail,  and  asks  that 
the  probation  officer  make  some  special  investigation,  either 
personally,  or  by  letters,  to  officials  or  social  agents  or  organi- 
zations in  other  sections  of  the  country,  to  determine  the 
question  whether  both  the  defendant  and  the  community 
can  still  profit  by  the  court  allowing  the  defendant,  even 
though  found  guilty,  still  to  have  his  liberty  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  probation  officers,  or  whether  the  defendant 
should  be  committed  to  the  custodial  care  of  some  institution. 
If  the  court  places  the  defendant  on  probation,  then  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  probation  officers  to  supervise,  by  personal 
visits,  by  written  reports,  and  by  all  other  possible  means 
of  investigation,  the  conduct  of  the  defendant,  so  that  when 


510  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

the  case  again  comes  before  the  court  for  final  disposition, 
the  probation  oflScers  may  again  be  able  to  assist  the  judge 
in  deciding  whether  the  individual  may  now  be  freed  from 
court  surveillance;  or  whether  that  surveillance  should  be 
continued  for  a  longer  period  of  time;  or  whether  the  indi- 
vidual should  finally  be  sentenced  to  some  custodial  institu- 
tion. The  Supreme  Court  has  determined  that  the  positions 
of  probation  oflicers  are  judicial  positions  —  a  recognition 
of  the  responsibilities  that  they  carry. 

Preparation  necessary 

Just  as  in  the  case  of  a  lawyer,  there  is  hardly  any  prepara- 
tion or  training  that  will  not  at  some  time  or  other  be  of  great 
assistance  to  the  probation  officer.  In  the  office  with  which 
I  am  connected,  one  of  the  women  officers  was  a  nurse;  one 
a  health  executive;  another  a  teacher;  another  took  her  colle- 
giate training  in  France;  several  had  had  considerable  busi- 
ness experience;  four  of  the  men  and  one  of  the  women  are 
members  of  the  Massachusetts  Bar,  and  several  in  the  office 
are  now  studying  law.  I  know  of  no  school  that  devotes  itself 
entirely  to  the  training  of  probation  officers;  but  some  of  the 
probation  officers  have  taken  work  at  the  various  schools  for 
social  work,  and  the  chief  of  my  office  has  taken  some  of  the 
courses  in  criminology  offered  by  Harvard  College. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  in  probation  work  de- 
pends largely  on  the  awakened  state  of  public  consciousness 
toward  social  factors  and  conditions  of  the  community  in 
which  the  probation  officer  finds  herself.  In  some  commu- 
nities, to  broaden  the  scope  of  her  work  and  thus  her  own 
field,  she  has  to  become  practically  a  crusader,  but  a  crusader 
with  infinite  tact  and  discretion. 

Financial  return 

In  one  of  the  large  Eastern  cities  I  have  known  a  woman  chief 

probation  officer  to  receive  at  one  time  a  salary  of  $5000  a 


THE  PROBATION  OFFICER  511 

year,  but  this  is  unusual.  In  Massachusetts  formerly  the  be- 
ginning salary  of  a  woman  probation  officer  —  in  positions 
where  her  whole  time  was  contracted  for  —  was  around 
$1200  a  year,  but  now  the  general  tendency  to  reflect  the 
high  cost  of  living  in  salaries  has  made  them  range  from 
$1400  to  around  $2400,  generally  speaking,  according  to  the 
court  and  the  locality  of  the  work. 

Qualifications 

For  probation  work,  not  only  is  perfect  physical  and  mental 
health  absolutely  essential,  but  abundant  extra  physical  vi- 
tality is  highly  desirable,  because  in  dealing  with  abnormal, 
deficient,  and  delinquent  people  at  some  of  the  most  excited 
and  distorted  moments  of  their  lives  the  mental  and  physical 
drain  is  very  great.  Of  course,  tact,  human  insight,  and  almost 
clairvoyant  sense  for  human  values  and  human  motives,  and 
a  broad  viewpoint,  are  all  highly  desirable,  but  all  these 
qualities  must  be  made  effective  by  perfect  health.  On  this 
too  strong  emphasis  cannot  be  laid. 

Reading 

The  National  Probation  Association,  of  which  the  general 
secretary  and  treasurer  is  Charles  L.  Chute,  State  Probation 
Commission,  Albany,  New  York,  publishes  various  reports 
and  pamphlets  for  distribution,  and  any  one  starting  a  course 
of  reading  about  probation  work  might  well  write  there  for 
their  latest  publications.  In  Massachusetts  the  Commission 
on  Probation,  Court-House,  Boston,  publishes  a  manual  for 
probation  officers  which  has  to  do  specially  with  the  work  in 
this  State.  Outside  of  such  technical  reading  the  wider  the 
reading  of  the  prospective  probation  officer  on  all  phases  of 
social  work,  the  better.  To  this  add  if  possible  some  reading 
on  the  law  and  rules  of  evidence  within  the  jurisdiction  where 
the  probation  officer  expects  to  serve. 


512  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 


PROBATION,  PAROLE,  PROTECTIVE,  AND 
REFORMATIVE  WORK 

MAUDE  E.  MINER 

Secretary t  New  York  Probation  and  Protective  Association 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  with  delinquent  girls  in  reformatories,  houses  of 
detention,  and  courts,  and  with  difficult  and  unadjusted  girls 
in  need  of  protective  care,  offers  a  very  great  opportunity  to 
many  trained  women  to  help  in  the  building  and  remoulding 
of  individual  character  and  in  the  prevention  of  delinquency 
and  crime. 

The  type  of  work  in  this  field  varies  from  investigational  or 
case  work  with  girls  to  administration  of  State  reformatories 
and  protective  organizations.  The  probation  officer  serves 
under  a  juvenile,  police,  or  criminal  court,  investigating  cases 
of  girls  or  women  and  rendering  written  reports  of  such  in- 
vestigations to  the  judge,  receiving  under  care  persons  re- 
leased on  probation  and  supervising  the  conduct  of  proba- 
tioners in  the  community.  The  parole  officer  is  connected 
with  a  reformatory  institution  and  does  follow-up  work  for 
girls  released  on  parole  from  the  institution.  Protective  offi- 
cers work  under  private  organizations  or  under  city  depart- 
ments with  difficult  and  unadjusted  girls  who  have  not  been 
convicted  by  courts  or  who  have  never  been  in  courts.  The 
work  includes  locating  runaway  girls  and  others  in  moral 
danger  and  personal,  constructive  work  with  individual  girls. 
The  worker  in  the  reformatory  may  be  a  superintendent  who 
has  entire  responsibility  for  the  management  of  the  institu- 
tion, an  assistant  or  house-mother  who  has  charge  of  one 
cottage,  or  an  academic,  occupational,  or  farm  teacher  who 
trains  the  girls  in  school,  industrial,  or  out-of-door  work. 
There  are  also  positions  as  psychologist,  psychiatrist,  and 
physician  in  connection  with  some  reformatories,  places  of 


PROTECTIVE  AND  REFORMATIVE  WORK    513 

detention,  and  courts.  In  houses  of  detention  for  juveniles 
or  adult  women,  there  are  also  positions  of  superintendent, 
matron,  and  teacher. 

Preparation  necessary 

Training  valuable  in  this  work  with  girls  may  be  secured 
through  graduate  courses  in  social  economy,  sociology,  psy- 
chology, and  statistics;  through  courses  at  the  different  schools 
of  social  work,  and  through  practical  experience  in  a  pro- 
tective organization,  advancing  from  the  less  diflScult  to  the 
more  difficult  tasks.  Undergraduate  courses  in  sociology, 
psychology,  and  hygiene  are  helpful  as  a  basis  for  later  study 
and  work.  Experience  in  any  case  work,  whether  with  fam- 
ilies or  individuals,  is  a  splendid  foundation  for  probation, 
parole,  and  protective  work.  It  is  very  helpful  for  the  worker 
with  delinquents  to  have  two  or  three  years  of  work  with 
girls  who  are  not  delinquent,  either  as  a  teacher  in  a  school  or 
in  some  other  kind  of  social  work. 

Opportunities  for  advancement 

There  are  opportunities  for  advancement,  from  probation 
officer  to  chief  probation  officer,  from  matron  or  teacher  in  a 
reformatory  or  house  of  detention  to  assistant  superintendent 
or  superintendent  of  the  institution,  and  from  a  worker  or 
assistant  in  a  protective  organization  to  director  of  a  pro- 
tective bureau  or  executive  secretary  of  a  protective  organ- 
ization in  a  city.  Many  cities  are  now  organizing  protective 
work,  and  a  big  field  of  opportunity  is  open  to  those  capable 
of  directing  and  guiding  this. 

Financial  return 

The  salaries  in  this  field  range  from  $75  a  month  to  $3000  or 
even  $5000  a  year.  In  a  few  instances  —  as,  for  example,  in 
the  position  of  parole  commissioner,  commissioner  of  correc- 
tion, or  deputy  police  commissioner  —  women  have  received 
as  much  as  $7500  a  year.  Other  positions  are  paying  salaries 


514  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

of  $2500  or  $3000  for  executives  of  organizations,  superin- 
tendents of  institutions,  or  chief  probation  officers.  The  usual 
range  of  salary  for  field  worker  is  from  $1200  to  $1800,  with 
many  positions  paying  $1500  and  $1800.  Probation  officers 
and  workers  in  small  cities  and  rural  districts  are  frequently 
paid  much  less,  and  there  are  still  many  positions  where  the 
salary  is  $75  a  month.  In  institutions  where  workers  are 
resident,  matrons  receive  $50  or  $60  in  addition  to  their  living 
in  the  institution. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  success  of  workers  in  this  field  depends  much  upon  the 
personality  of  the  worker  and  her  ability  to  reach  girls.  There 
must  also  be  absolute  integrity,  strength  and  firmness  of  char- 
acter, ^eat  faith  in  human  nature,  and  great  love  of  girls. 
One  needs  for  this  work  enthusiasm,  resourcefulness,  sym- 
pathy, understanding,  a  sense  of  humor,  imagination,  ability 
to  do  teamwork,  to  endure  both  just  and  unjust  criticism, 
and  to  go  ahead  in  the  face  of  powerfid  political  opposition 
with  fearlessness  and  courage.  In  this  work  where  the  great- 
est task  is  re-education  and  the  upbuilding  of  defective  or 
demoralized  character,  it  is  necessary  for  the  worker  to  have 
a  vision  of  the  bigness  of  her  task,  faith  in  the  power  of 
accomplishing  far-reaching  results,  and  recognition  of  the 
spiritual  basis  of  the  work. 

While  every  fine  natural  quality  adds  to  the  worker's 
effectiveness,  many  of  these  qualities  are  developed  and 
strengthened  by  the  work  itself.  It  is  also  possible  to  develop 
skill  in  investigational  work,  accuracy,  systematic  record- 
keeping, report-writing,  and  ability  to  interpret  facts  and 
figures  in  terms  of  larger  social  needs. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  greatest  advantage  in  this  work  comes  through  the  real 
satisfaction  and  joy  derived  from  helping  to  direct  malad- 
justed lives  into  those  which  are  socially  useful  and  in  the 


PROTECTIVE  AND  REFORMATIVE  WORK    515 

knowledge  that  one  is  building  for  the  future  and  helping  to 
lessen  social  problems.  In  working  for  the  prevention  of  de- 
linquency one  is  brought  closely  in  touch  with  nearly  every 
social  problem  and  with  workers  in  the  different  fields.  The 
great  variety  of  work,  the  opportunity  for  experiment  and 
development,  and  the  possibility  of  doing  creative  work  add 
to  the  interest  in  this  field. 

Disadvantages  are  to  be  found  in  the  great  difficulties  of 
the  task,  in  the  opposition  and  lack  of  support  frequently  due 
to  corrupt  politics  or  to  the  indifference  of  the  public,  in  long 
and  irregular  hours  of  work  and  the  infrequency  and  short- 
ness of  vacations.  Resident  workers  in  institutions  are  on 
duty  many  hours  of  the  day  and  the  work  is  confining.  Hours 
for  probation  and  protective  work  are  irregular,  because  girls 
must  be  visited  after  their  work  in  the  evening.  Vacations 
are  usually  for  one  month  in  summer,  instead  of  three  months 
and  at  holiday  seasons  to  which  teachers  in  schools  and  col- 
leges are  accustomed.  There  are  no  sabbatical  years  and  no 
pensions.  Many  salaries  are  also  very  inadequate  when  we 
consider  the  high  type  of  work  and  of  ability  required. 

Supply  and  demand 

Although  accurate  statistics  are  not  available  as  to  the 
number  of  workers  in  this  field,  we  do  know  that  the  demand 
for  skilled  workers  far  exceed^J  the  supply.  The  extension  of 
protective  and  reformative  work  during  the  period  of  the  war 
has  opened  many  new  positions  in  larger  cities  and  in  institu- 
tions, and  the  demand  for  competent  executives  and  superin- 
tendents of  reformatories  and  houses  of  detention  cannot  be 
met  from  the  existing  group  of  workers.  Also  industrial  and 
other  organizations  are  constantly  drawing  upon  the  expe- 
rience of  workers  with  girls  for  welfare  work  in  industrial 
plants.  With  the  increase  in  the  number  of  protective  organ- 
izations and  of  probation  officers,  there  exists  a  big  oppor- 
timity  in  this  field. 


516  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Reading 

For  suggested  readings  I  would  mention  the  publications  of 
the  Bureau  of  Social  Hygiene  in  New  York  City,  and  the 
publications  of  the  Federal  Children's  Bureau,  relating  to 
illegitimacy  and  children's  courts,  "A  New  Conscience  and 
an  Ancient  Evil,"  by  Jane  Addams,  and  "Juvenile  Courts 
and  Probation,"  by  Bernard  Flexner.  My  own  book,  en- 
titled "The  Slavery  of  Prostitution,"  has  chapters  on  pro- 
bation work  and  on  a  campaign  of  prevention  which  explain 
more  fully  the  work  in  those  fields.  The  annual  reports  of 
reformatories,  of  State  probation  commissions,  of  the  Na- 
tional Probation  Association,  58  North  Pearl  Street,  Albany, 
New  York,  and  of  the  New  York  Probation  and  Protective 
Association,  130  East  22d  Street,  New  York  City,  will  help 
to  make  clearer  the  opportunities  and  possibilities  and 
methods  of  reformative  and  protective  work. 

PSYCHIATRIC  SOCIAL  WORK 

MARY  C.  JARRETT 

Associate  Director,  Smith  College  Training  School  for  Social  Work 

Description  of  occupation 

Psychiatric  social  work  is  essentially  a  form  of  mental  hy- 
giene work.  A  great  French  physician,  Pinel,  a  hundred 
years  ago  said,  "I  am  interested  in  nervous  and  mental  dis- 
eases because  they  give  me  knowledge  of  the  human  person- 
ality." Through  the  cleavages  of  mental  disease  William 
James  studied  psychology.  Through  these  abnormal  proc- 
esses, more  marked  and  more  readily  observed  than  the 
mind  of  the  average  man,  we  get  much  of  our  knowledge  of 
human  nature.  We  rarely,  if  ever,  find  a  person  in  perfect 
mental  condition.  Every  one  has  minor  mental  ailments 
such  as  prejudice,  irritability,  shyness,  worry.  The  psychi- 
atric social  worker  aims  to  help  prevent  these  milder  diffi- 
culties of  the  mind  and  to  promote  mental  vigor  as  well  as 
to  assist  in  the  care  of  the  mentally  sick. 


PSYCHIATRIC  SOCIAL  WORK  517 

Psychiatry  (the  mental  division  of  medicine)  relies  upon 
psychiatric  social  work  in  (a)  treatment,  (6)  diagnosis,  and 
(c)  research.  Mental  disease  almost  always  shows  itself  in 
the  form  of  social  disorder;  therefore  the  social  worker  is 
particularly  needed  to  assist  the  psychiatrist  with  treatment. 
Many  mental  diseases  cannot  be  properly  diagnosed  without 
a  careful  previous  history  of  the  patient,  such  as  the  social 
worker  is  trained  to  get.  Better  knowledge  of  many  obscure 
diseases  will  depend  largely  upon  social  investigation  and 
observation  in  the  community,  which  are  functions  of  social 
work. 

The  first  attempt  to  employ  a  social  worker  in  the  care  of 
mental  patients  in  this  country  seems  to  have  been  in  the 
Neurological  Clinic  at  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital, 
in  1905,  under  Dr.  James  J.  Putnam.  The  Manhattan  State 
Hospital,  in  New  York  City,  was  the  first  public  hospital  for 
mental  diseases  to  engage  a  social  worker  upon  its  staif ,  after 
her  services  had  been  provided  for  some  years  by  the  New 
York  State  Charities  Aid  Association.  The  Boston  Psycho- 
pathic Hospital  (opened  in  1912  with  its  social  service  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  hospital)  was  the  first  institution  to 
systematize  this  work  —  to  define  its  principles,  to  establish 
standards  of  training,  and  to  give  it  a  name,  psychiatric 
social  work.  Now  there  are  social  service  departments  in 
psychiatric  clinics  and  hospitals  throughout  the  country. 

During  the  war  psychiatric  social  workers  were  needed  for 
army  hospitals,  and  there  was  no  supply.  The  only  regular 
training  then  offered  was  the  apprenticeship  course  given 
by  the  Boston  Psychopathic  Hospital.  To  meet  this  need, 
through  the  initiative  of  Dr.  E.  E.  Southard,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  National  Committee  for  Mental  Hygiene,  Smith 
College  offered  an  intensive  emergency  course  of  eight  months 
with  practice  work  in  various  cities. 

In  all  forms  of  social  work  there  is  need  of  knowledge  of 
psychiatry  and  the  psychiatric  point  of  view  (to  look  for 
mental  causes  of  conduct  and  for  individual  differences). 


518  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

since  about  fifty  per  cent  of  all  social  cases  are  psychiatric 
problems  (involving  persons  in  some  degree  or  other  psycho- 
pathic), and  since  mind  is  an  important  factor  in  all  efforts 
for  social  adjustment.  Courses  in  social  psychiatry  for  all 
students  are  now  being  introduced  into  schools  of  social  work. 
There  will  always  be  also  the  special  field  of  psychiatric  so- 
cial work. 

Preparation  necessary 

Courses  of  training  for  psychiatric  social  work,  requiring 
from  one  to  two  years,  are  offered  by  the  New  York  School  of 
Social  Work,  the  Pennsylvania  School  of  Social  Service  in 
Philadelphia,  and  the  Smith  College  Training  School  of 
Social  Work.  Other  schools  are  also  adding  such  special 
courses.  The  Smith  course  now  requires  thirteen  months; 
the  students  spend  two  summers  in  intensive  study  at  North- 
ampton and  nine  months  of  the  intervening  winter  in  practice 
work  at  hospitals  in  various  cities.  There  are  usually  some 
scholarships  available  in  the  training  schools,  and  internships 
are  offered  to  social  students  by  some  hospitals. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  mental  hygiene  movement  has  spread  so  rapidly  that 
there  are  ten  positions  for  every  worker.  In  so  new  a  field 
there  are  remarkable  opportunities  for  the  young  trained 
worker,  in  connection  with  psychiatric  clinics  and  hospitals, 
courts  and  reformatories,  mental  hygiene  societies,  and,  re- 
cently, with  the  Red  Cross  in  the  United  States  public  health 
hospitals.  Graduates  of  the  "war  class"  of  1919  are  receiving 
salaries  from  $1200  to 


Qualifications  required 

The  qualifications  of  the  psychiatric  social  worker  are,  (a)  a 
certain  natural  fitness,  (6)  education,  and  (c)  professional 
training.  She  must  be,  of  course,  intelligent,  well-balanced, 
sympathetic,  and  adaptable,  with  an  interest  in  individuals, 
and  then  she  must  have  ability  to  think  clearly  and  patiently 


PSYCHIATRIC  SOCIAL  WORK  519 

and  to  observe  closely.  She  should  have  had  a  general  educa- 
tion equal  to  a  college  course,  in  which  studies  in  biology, 
psychology,  and  sociology  are  desirable.  In  her  training  she 
will  study  social  psychiatry  (along  with  other  related  aca- 
demic branches)  applying  it  in  her  practice  work,  and  she  will 
learn  through  instruction  and  practice  the  technique  of  social 
case  work. 

Mental  hygiene  means  better  understanding  for  the  indi- 
vidual, a  better  chance  to  form  good  habits  and  not  to  form 
bad  habits,  to  make  the  most  of  abilities  and  to  adjust  handi- 
caps. The  psychiatric  social  worker  is  indispensable  to  the 
mental  hygiene  movement;  and  trained  workers  in  great 
numbers  are  needed  now. 

"A  Psychiatric  Contribution  to  the  Study  of  Delinquency" 

—  Herman  M.  Adler,  M.D.  "  Journal  of  the  American 

Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and  Criminology,"  May,  I9I7. 
"Mental  Health  of  the  Community  and  the  Work  of  the 

Psychiatric  Dispensary"  —  C.  Macfie  Campbell,  M.D. 

"Mental  Hygiene,"  October,  1917. 
"After-Care  Study  of  the  Patients  Discharged  from  Waver- 

ley  for  a  Period  of  Twenty-Five  Years"  —  Walter  E. 

Fernald,  M.D.  "Ungraded,"  November,  1919. 
"Special  Preparation  of  the  Psychiatric  Social  Worker"  — 

Bernard  Glueck,  M.D.  "Mental  Hygiene,"  July,  1919. 
"Individual  Delinquent"  —  William  Healy,  M.D. 
"Psychiatric  Social   Work" —  Mary  C.  Jarrett   "Mental 

Hygiene,"  April,  1918. 
"The  Psychiatric  Thread  Running  Through  All  Social  Case 

Work"  — Mary  C.  Jarrett.   "Mental  Hygiene,"  July, 

1919. 
"Shell-Shock  Analogues:  Neuroses  in  Civil  Life  Having  a 

Sudden  or  Critical  Origin"  —  Mary  C.  Jarrett.   "Med- 
icine and  Surgery,"  March,  1918. 
National  Committee  for  Mental  Hygiene,  50  Union  Square, 

New  York  City.  Publications. 


520  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"The  Training  School  of  Psychiatric  Social  Work  at  Smith 
College"  — A.  W.  Neilson  and  others.  "Mental  Hy- 
giene," October,  1918. 

"Mental  Hygiene  and  Social  Work:  Notes  on  a  Course  in 
Social  Psychiatry  for  Social  Workers"  —  E.  E.  South- 
ard. "Mental  Hygiene,"  July,  1918. 

"The  Mental  Hygiene  of  Industry"  — E.  E.  Southard. 
"Mental  Hygiene,"  January,  1920. 

"The  Kingdom  of  Evil:  Advantages  of  an  Orderly  Approach 
in  Social  Case  Analysis"  —  E.  E.  Southard.  National 
Conference  of  Social  Work,  Proceedings,  1918. 

"What  the  Social  Worker  learns  from  the  Psychiatrist  about 
her  Problem  Children"  —  Jessie  Taft.  "Modern  Hos- 
pital," August,  1919. 

"The  New  Impulse  in  Mental  Hygiene"  —  Jessie  Taft. 
"Public  Health  Nurse,"  October,  1919. 

The  Social  Syndrome:  An  Alumnae  Publication  of  the  Smith 
College  Training  School  for  Social  Work. 


REFORMATIVE  WORK 

JESSIE  D.  HODDER 

Superintendent  of  Reformatory  for  Women,  Framingham,  Massachusetts 

Description  of  occupation 

Reform  would  seem  to  assume  that  there  has  been  a  form 
which  has  been  destroyed  and  which  is  to  be  reestablished. 
A  large  part  of  the  material  presented  for  reformation,  how- 
ever, never  had  a  form,  i.e.,  never  had  moral  standards  or 
social  ideals.  To  re-form  is  to  re-moralize  or  re-socialize.  In 
reform  work  the  main  interest  is  in  giving  the  individual  what 
she  may  never  have  had  —  a  vision,  a  hope,  a  knowledge  of 
herself  and  a  belief  in  God.  Our  patient  missed  the  joy  of 
learning  and  sharing  knowledge,  of  being  unselfish,  self- 
controlled,  of  helping  in  the  generous  give-and-take  of  life; 
she  hated  discipline  and  refused  to  "give  in"  to  it;  she  missed 


REFORMATIVE  WORK  521 

motives  of  self-respect,  ambition,  self-discipline.  It  is  not 
that  she  had  them,  lost  them,  and  wanted  them  back  —  she 
never  saw  them;  she  had  worn  blinders  all  her  life;  she  did 
not  see  that  "Liberty  is  obedience  to  law." 

The  job  of  the  person  who  is  to  work  with  her  is  to  create 
ambition,  fine  motives,  desires  to  help.  The  patient  must 
learn  to  grip  life  at  some  tangible  point,  so  that  she  will  feel 
it  worth  fighting  and  dying  for.  Helping  her  to  kill  cynicism, 
which  is  always  a  form  of  laziness,  and  to  illuminate  service 
to  God  and  to  mankind,  is  part  of  the  reform  job.  Don't 
talk  about  her  faults. 

In  actual  practice  this  will  mean  taking  an  inventory  with 
the  patient,  which  is  analyzing  her  life  and  the  causes  of  her 
delinquencies,  and  then  mapping  out  an  educational  regime 
which  will  fill  in  gaps  and  teach  new  habits.  Well-equipped 
reformatories  will  be  equipped  as  follows : 

1.  The  industrial  development.  Every  reformatory  should 
have  industrial  departments  fully  equipped  with  modern 
machinery  and  appliances  superintended  by  competent  in- 
structors, in  order  that  the  mechanically  inclined  inmates 
may  be  trained  to  enter  the  industrial  world  immediately  on 
their  discharge  and  earn  a  living  wage.  The  industrial  build- 
ing should  be  a  separate  unit. 

2.  The  agricultural  development  includes  dairying,  butter- 
and  cheese-making,  truck-gardening,  poultry-raising,  small 
fruits,  etc. 

3.  Domestic  science.  Cooking,  canning,  waitress  work, 
chamber  work,  laundering,  household  management. 

4.  Recreation.  Gymnastics  should  be  taught,  and  also  the 
value  and  significance  of  recreation. 

5.  Religion.  Each  person  permitted  and  encouraged  to 
confer  with  the  chaplain.  No  influence  should  be  brought  to 
bear  in  denominational  choice. 

Preparation  necessary 

Prospective  workers  should  have  one  year's  post-graduate 

training  as  interne  in  actual  work  in  a  reformatory  institution; 


522  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

preceded  by  undergraduate  courses  in  biology,  sociology, 
civil  government,  psychology,  ethics. 

There  are  always  more  positions  to  be  filled  than  there  are 
trained  people  to  fill  them.  Any  superintendent  who  is  doing 
good  work  will  have  two  or  three  oflfers  from  other  States 
during  a  year.  Of  course,  the  number  of  superintendents* 
positions  to  be  filled  is  limited,  but  every  bit  of  work  in  a 
reformatory  is  character-developing  and  training  for  the  offi- 
cer, and  is  excellent  preparation  for  whatever  work  in  the 
field  of  social  service  she  wishes  to  take  up.  Reformatory 
work  properly  conducted  is  social  service,  and  the  oppor- 
tunities for  advancement  are  as  vast  as  that  field  offers. 

Financial  return 

No  person  is  entering  the  service  of  reformatory  work  now 
for  less  than  $600  a  year,  with  maintenance.  The  highest 
superintendent's  salary  is  $4000,  with  maintenance. 

Qualifications  desirable 

The  qualifications  necessary  for  success  in  the  field  are  those 
of  the  finest  teacher.  The  worker  must  have  tact,  love  of 
human  beings,  common  sense,  a  sense  of  humor;  must  be 
absolutely  honest  and  just,  and  must  radiate  the  highest  type 
of  womanhood;  she  must  be  obeyed  through  respect  and  not 
through  fear. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

To  work  for  prisoners  is  to  have  touched  life  at  once  at  its 
highest  and  lowest  ebb.  It  can  be  the  richest  experience  in 
one's  life.  There  is  also  the  advantage  of  serving  one's  Gov- 
ernment, helping  it  perhaps  to  grow,  and  in  being  a  public 
servant. 

The  disadvantages  are  those  inherent  to  work  for  State 
Government  where  progress  is  slow  and  initiative  is  too  often 
held  in  check.  Also  the  long  hours  and  confinement  are  dis- 
advantages which,  however,  are  quite  overbalanced  by  the 


THE  SCHOOL  VISITOR  523 

joy  in  serving  where  there  is  need.  I  should  say  that  the  ad- 
vantages were  greater  than  entering  the  foreign  missionary 
field  and  the  work  similar. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  about  ten  reformatories  for  women  and  girls  in 
the  United  States.  Let  us  hope  that  this  number  will  not  be 
increased  and  that  this  special  field  of  work  will  develop  more 
along  the  lines  of  probation,  indenture,  and  segregation  of  the 
feeble-minded,  psychopath,  and  epileptic;  training  in  this 
work,  however,  dovetails  into  other  phases  of  social  service 
where  the  demand  is  enormous  for  trained  and  adaptable 
workers. 

Reading 

I  WOULD  suggest  that  the  best  schools  for  social  workers  and 
their  libraries  be  generously  consulted,  and  that  one  focus 
one's  studies  on  the  larger  field  of  social  and  economic  reform 
of  which  prison  work  is  but  a  reflection. 


THE  SCHOOL  VISITOR 

BEATRICE  G.  LAMBRECHT 

Vocational  Advisor,  North  High  School,  Minneapolis,  Minnesota 

Description  of  occupation 

The  school  is  no  longer  concerned  merely  with  the  academic 
instruction  of  the  young  people  committed  to  its  care.  More 
and  more  responsibilities  are  being  thrust  upon  the  school  in 
order  that  it  may  turn  out  the  highest  possible  type  of  citizen. 
School  nurses  and  doctors  have  been  added  to  study  the 
child  who  is  physically  unfit;  psychologists  are  examining  the 
needs  of  children  mentally  disqualified.  Special  classes  in 
sight-saving  and  speech-improvement,  work  with  blind  and 
deaf  children,  malnutrition  cHnics  and  open-air  schools  are  all 
signals  of  the  changing  times.   Still  there  is  a  large  group  of 


524  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

pupils  who  need  individual  treatment.  The  children  who  are 
difficult  in  conduct  and  those  whose  scholarship  is  poor,  not 
because  of  mental  deficiencies,  but  possibly  owing  to  some 
home  condition  with  which  the  teacher  is  not  familiar,  require 
special  attention.  If  the  proper  adjustment  is  made  early 
enough,  serious  difficulties  may  be  averted,  which  means  a 
saving  not  only  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  State  as  well. 

In  order  that  the  school  may  reach  out  into  the  homes  and 
learn  conditions  there,  the  positions  of  school  visitors  or  vis- 
iting teachers,  as  they  are  frequently  called,  have  been  estab- 
lished. The  work  of  the  school  visitor  is  not  essentially  new. 
Home  and  school  visiting  have  been  done  ever  since  the  days 
when  the  teacher  "boarded  'round"  with  the  families  of  her 
pupils.  The  complications  of  present-day  educational  systems 
and  the  crowded  schools  in  most  communities  make  the  regu- 
lar classroom  teacher  already  overburdened,  and  necessitate 
the  services  of  a  trained  worker  who  is  familiar  with  the  social 
agencies  of  the  city  and  who  has  been  trained  in  the  methods 
of  social  case  work.  Work  with  the  individual  children  often 
requires  numerous  visits  for  which  regular  teachers  have 
neither  the  time  nor  training. 

The  school  visitor  goes  into  the  homes  of  children  showing 
first  symptoms  of  falling  below  the  school  standard  in  scholar- 
ship, conduct,  or  attendance,  and  establishes  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  families  and  attempts  to  discover  the  cause  of 
the  child's  trouble  by  finding  out  home  conditions,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  parents  toward  the  school,  and  the  child's  difficul- 
ties or  grievances  which  may  be  interfering  with  progress  at 
school.  Possibly  she  may  find  that  the  child  in  question  has 
too  much  housework  to  do,  that  he  needs  more  recreation, 
that  he  works  after  school,  or  that  his  companions  are  a  bad 
influence. 

The  visitor  is  the  interpreter  between  the  home  and  the 
school.  It  is  her  business  to  interpret  the  school  to  the  parents 
and  gain  their  cooperation.  Equally  important,  she  brings 
back  to  the  school  a  report  of  home  conditions,  so  that  the 


THE  SCHOOL  VISITOR  5^5 

teacher  may  better  understand  the  child's  interests  and 
difficulties. 

A  visit  to  the  home  often  reveals  many  needs  which  if  fol- 
lowed up  leads  the  visitor  to  the  doors  of  many  public  and 
private  institutions.  It  is  her  business  to  draw  upon  the  re- 
sources of  the  community  to  supply  what  is  needed  in  order 
to  adjust  the  problems  of  the  child  in  her  care.  The  visitor 
may  enlist  the  interest  of  a  Boy  Scouts  leader,  a  vocational 
counselor,  a  playground  director,  a  librarian,  the  Red  Cross, 
a  visiting  nurse,  the  Associated  Charities,  or  a  tutor.  Em- 
ployment may  be  found  for  the  father  or  an  older  brother,  or 
the  child  may  be  transferred  to  another  school  where  the  type 
of  vocational  education  which  he  needs  may  be  obtained.  One 
visiting  teacher  in  a  foreign  section  realized  that  the  mothers 
were  having  difficulty  with  American  cooking,  and  as  a  result 
the  children  were  undernourished.  She  organized  a  class  of 
cooking  for  the  mothers  and  obtained  the  services  of  a  dieti- 
tian to  instruct  them.  It  is  the  business  of  the  visiting  teacher 
to  make  the  individual  adjustments  necessary  so  that  an  early 
withdrawal  from  school  is  prevented. 

Not  only  must  the  visitor  be  the  interpreter  between  the 
homes  of  individual  children  and  the  school,  but  she  must 
bring  back  the  report  of  conditions  in  the  neighborhood  where 
the  school  is  located.  She  must  understand  the  social  and  in- 
dustrial life  of  her  district  and  report  to  the  principal  the 
needs,  so  that  the  school  curriculum  may  be  made  flexible 
enough  to  satisfy  the  children. 

The  visiting  teacher  must  not  be  confused  with  an  attend- 
ance officer  or  probation  officer.  Her  work  is  entirely  preven- 
tive. She  is  the  mutual  friend  of  children  and  parents.  It  is 
essential  that  she  be  a  member  of  the  school  staff  where  she 
is  regarded  as  a  consultant  on  problematic  children. 

Preparation  necessary 

Such  training  as  this  work  requires  has  not  yet  been  offered 

students  in  colleges  or  training  schools  for  social  work.   Be- 


526  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

cause  of  the  go-between  nature  of  her  work,  the  visitor  must 
have  the  qualifications  necessary  for  the  regular  classroom 
teacher  and  in  addition  must  be  trained  in  social  work.  It  is 
extremely  desirable  that  she  have  at  least  one  year  of  actual 
teaching  experience  so  that  she  can  know  the  problems  of  the 
teacher  at  first  hand.  In  addition,  she  must  have  been  trained 
in  the  methods  of  social  work.  A  general  college  course  in 
sociology  is  not  suflScient.  Field  work  with  an  Associated 
Charities,  juvenile  court,  or  child-welfare  agency  is  essential. 
A  post-graduate  course  of  one  year  in  a  school  of  social  work, 
such  as  the  New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  or  the  Chicago 
School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  is  extremely  desirable. 
A  number  of  universities  and  colleges  are  estabhshing  these 
practical  training  schools  for  social  work. 

The  undergraduate  contemplating  entering  visiting  teacher 
work  should  elect  courses  in  general  sociology,  psychology, 
and  economics,  and  such  special  courses  in  child  psychology, 
mental  testing,  and  community  problems  as  her  college  may 
offer.  While  getting  her  teaching  experience  she  should  study 
the  leakage  from  the  school  in  which  she  is  located,  child 
labor  in  the  community,  the  opportunities  for  recreation,  and 
the  social  agencies  interested  in  children.  This  information 
will  be  extremely  valuable  when  she  takes  her  intensive 
training  in  social  work. 

Qualifications 

It  is  necessary  that  the  person  going  into  school  visiting  should 
understand  human  nature,  and  be  able  to  deal  effectively 
with  adults  as  well  as  children.  Above  all,  she  must  be  re- 
sourceful in  order  to  see  the  way  to  solve  difficulties,  and  she 
must  have  the  ability  to  make  constructive  social  and  educa- 
tional suggestions.  The  work  requires  patience,  enthusiasm, 
and  a  hopeful  philosophy,  as  a  school  visitor  is  apt  to  see  many 
wrong  conditions  which  will  take  a  long  period  of  time  to 
change. 


THE  SCHOOL  VISITOR  527 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  great  joy  in  the  work  is  in  its  variety  and  in  its  endless 
possibilities  for  creative  work.  As  yet,  the  field  of  the  visiting 
teacher  has  not  been  limited  and  defined  so  that  she  is  not 
bound  by  past  traditions.  New  paths  and  ways  are  open  to 
her.  Usually  the  principal  allows  her  to  do  whatever  she  con- 
siders necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  children.  Free  from  the 
routine  of  the  class  teacher,  the  programme  of  her  work  is 
arranged  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  day.  Necessarily  a  great 
deal  of  her  time  is  spent  outside  the  school  building.  There 
is  considerable  adventure  in  the  work  of  the  visitor.  She 
never  knows  what  conditions  or  experiences  confront  her 
when  she  makes  a  home  visit.  Incidentally  it  should  be  men- 
tioned that  no  other  representative  of  any  public  institution 
receives  the  reception  in  the  home  that  greets  the  school  vis- 
itor. Most  schools  are  respected  by  the  parents  of  the  pupils 
and  the  visit  of  a  school  official  is  an  "occasion."  Coming 
from  the  school  she  has  a  most  natural  approach  to  the  home 
and  the  parents  appreciate  the  interest  implied  by  the  visit. 
Because  she  is  dealing  with  children  before  they  have  become 
social  "cases"  visiting  teaching  is  about  the  most  hopeful 
type  of  social  work.  • 

The  hours  required  are  usually  similar  to  the  regular  teach- 
er's, although  the  necessity  for  many  evening  visits,  in  order 
to  find  the  parents  who  work  during  the  day,  necessitates  an 
irregular  programme. 

Extent  of  occupation 

Visiting  teacher  work  began  informally  in  two  Eastern  cities 
in  1906  as  a  settlement  activity.  In  some  cities  the  work  has 
been  initiated  by  parents'  associations,  public  education 
associations,  or  child-welfare  organizations,  and  later  has 
been  taken  over  by  the  school  board  after  the  value  of  the 
work  has  been  demonstrated.  In  other  cities  the  school  board 
has  undertaken  the  work  from  the  beginning.  In  New  York 
City  the  Public  Education  Association  and  the  Board  of  Edu- 


528  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

cation  both  have  visitors  working  in  the  schools.  The  ideal 
arrangement  is  to  have  a  visitor  on  the  staff  of  each  school, 
but  the  lack  of  funds  sometimes  compels  a  visitor  being  as- 
signed to  more  than  one  school.  Boston  has  a  number  of  visi- 
tors who  work  in  connection  with  settlements  or  other  private 
organizations.  In  Rochester  and  Mount  Vernon,  New  York, 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  Montclair,  New  Jersey,  Minne- 
apolis, and  Los  Angeles,  the  departments  of  education  have 
introduced  the  work,  while  in  Philadelphia,  Hartford,  Balti- 
more, Columbus,  and  Chicago  the  work  is  carried  on  under 
psychological  clinics  or  child- welfare  agencies. 

The  visiting  teaching  movement  is  bound  to  grow  because 
the  school  is  going  to  be  compelled  to  take  more  and  more 
social  responsibilities  toward  its  children,  and  the  value  of  the 
visitor's  contribution  to  its  social  efficiency  will  be  recognized. 
The  school  visitor's  work  is  only  one  of  the  humanizing  move- 
ments which  are  helping  the  school  to  perform  the  functions 
which  belong  to  it  as  a  child-weKare  agency. 

Financial  return 

When  the  work  is  under  the  school  board,  the  pay  of  the  visit- 
ing teacher  is  usually  according  to  the  schedule  of  the  regular 
teacher.  The  average  remuneration  is  from  $1200  to  $1500, 
but  it  varies  from  $900  to  $2000. 

Suggested  reading 

U.S.  Department  of  Labor,  Children's  Bureau.  Children's 
Year  Leaflet  No.  11.   Bureau  Publication  No.  55. 

"The  Visiting  Teacher  in  New  York  City "  — Harriet  M. 
Johnson.  Published  by  the  Public  Education  Associa- 
tion, 8  West  40th  Street,  New  York  City. 

"The  Function  of  the  Visiting  Teacher"  —  Jessie  L.  Louder- 
back.     "Survey,"  May  10,  1919. 

"The  Visiting  Teacher"  —  Cornelia  Swinnerton.  "Survey," 
June  14,  1919. 

Annual  Report  of  Superintendent  of  Schools,  New  York  City, 
1914-15  and  1916-17. 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  529 

SOCIAL  SERVICE' 

AN  OUTLINE,  prepared  by  EDITH  SHATTO  KING 

National  Social  Workers'  Exchange,  New  York  City 

SOCIAL  WORK 

(Occupational  Groups) 

Social  Case  Work  (Work  with  individuals) 

1.  Child  Welfare 

2.  Church  Visiting 

3.  Family  Case  Work 

4.  Medical  Social  Work 

5.  Occupational  Therapy 

6.  Probation,  Protective,  Parole  and  Prison  Work 

7.  Public  Health  Nursing  and  Visiting 

8.  Psychiatric  Social  Work 

9.  School  Visiting 

10.  Visiting  Dietitian 

11.  Vocational  Guidance  (in  educational  Institutions  only) 

Social  Group  Work  (Work  with  groups) 

1.  Americanization 

2.  Community  Work 

3.  Community  Center  Work 

4.  Club  Work  (Boys'  and  Girls') 

5.  Playground 

6.  Recreation 

7.  Settlement 

Social  Reform  Work  (Work  with  people  as  a  mass) 

1.  Civic  Work 

2.  Housing  Work 

3.  Legislative  Work 

4.  Publicity  and  Finance 

5.  Public  Health  Work 

a.  Nursing 


530  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

b.  Social  Hygiene  Work  (also  Social  Case  Work) 

c.  Anti-Tuberculosis  Work 

d.  Child  Hygiene  Work 

Social  Research  Work  (The  discovery  and  use  of  facts) 

1.  Investigational  Work  (for  Industrial  Investigation  see 
"Industrial") 

2.  Research  Work 

3.  Survey  and  Exhibit  Work 

4.  Statistical  Work 

Industrial  Work 

1.  Employment  Work  —  Private  and  Public 

2.  Industrial  Research  Work  ^ 

3.  Factory  Inspection 

4.  Personnel  Work 

a.  Employment 

b.  Health  and  Hygiene 

c.  Safety 

d.  Social  Activities   (which  may  be  some  form  of 

Social  Case  Work  or  Social  Group  Work  or  both) 

e.  Training 

5.  Reform  and  Legislative  Work 

Specialties  (which  may  be  used  in  social  organizations) 

1.  Agricultural  Work 

2.  Community  Song  Leading 

3.  Dramatic  Work 

4.  Eugenics 

5.  Financial  and  Publicity  Campaigning 

6.  Home  Economics  Work 

7.  Institutional  Work 

a.  Administrative  Heads 

b.  Matrons 

8.  Knowledge  of  Languages 

9.  Legal  Work 
10.  Mental  Testing 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  531 

11.  Nursing 

12.  Medical  Work 

13.  Psychology 

14.  Psychiatry 

15.  Registrars'  Work 

16.  Secretarial  Work  (involving  a  knowledge  of  Stenography 
for  Work  in  Social  Organizations) 

There  are  or  may  be  Executives,  Organizers,  Propa- 
gandists, Field  Workers,  Publicity  and  Financial  Work- 
ers, Research  Workers,  Teachers,  Rural  and  Urban 
Workers  in  all  of  these  groups.  The  agencies  in  which 
social  work  is  done  may  be  either  publicly  or  privately 
supported. 

Minimum  Training  for  Social  Workers  recommended  as 
desirable 
I.  College  education  or  its  equivalent.    Desirable  prepara- 
tion  in  the  undergraduate  work   looking  toward  voca- 
tional training  includes  courses  in: 

1.  Social  Economics 

2.  Political  Science 

3.  Biology 

4.  Psychology 

It  is  assumed  that  there  will  be  good  training  in  the  use 
of  English. 

II.  Vocational  Training  should  include  at  least  one  year's 
work  in  a  professional  school  which  should  include  courses 
in  Statistics,  Social  Case  Work,  Community  Work,  and 
a  substantial  amount  of  supervised  Field  Work. 

Training  Schools  for  Professional  Social  Work  (which 
are  members  of  the  Association  of  Training  Schools  for 
Professional  Social  Work) 
Boston  School  of  Social  Work,  18  Somerset  Street,  Boston, 
Massachusetts. 


532  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Carola  Woerishoffer  Graduate  Department  of  Social  Econ- 
omy and  Social  Research,  Bryn  Mawr  College,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Department  of  Social  Work,  Carnegie  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  2559  Michi- 
gan Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  105  East  22d  Street, 
New  York  City. 

Ohio  State  University,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Pennsylvania  School  for  Social  Service,  1302  Pine  Street, 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

School  of  Social  Work  and  PubUc  Health,'lll2  Capitol 
Street,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

The  Missouri  School  of  Social  Economy,  222  Locust  Street, 
St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Smith  College  Training  School  for  Social  Work,  Northamp- 
ton, Massachusetts. 

Philanthropic  Service  Division,  School  of  Commerce  and 
Administration,  University  of  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Training  Course  in  Civics  and  Social  Work,  University  of 
Minnesota,  Minneapolis,  Minnesota. 

Department  of  Social  Service,  University  of  Toronto,  Canada. 

W^estern  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Training  Course  in  Civics  and  Social  Work,  University  of 
Pittsburgh. 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  WORKER 

^  EVA  WHITING  WHITE 

Director,  Elizabeth  Peabody  House,  Boston 

Description  of  work 

The  social  settlement  is  dedicated  to  neighborhood  life. 
Those  who  live  within  its  four  walls  identify  themselves  with 
every  interest  that  may  affect  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  WORKER       533 

district.  The  social  settlement  stands  ready  to  help  men, 
women,  and  children.  It  may  be  that  a  better  job  is  needed 
or  that  educational  opportunities  should  be  increased  and 
boys  and  girls  assisted  to  take  advantage  of  the  same.  Fur- 
ther, the  settlement  endeavors  to  arouse  local  residents  to 
regenerate  their  own  surroundings  by  insisting  that  homes 
have  light  and  air;  that  streets  are  properly  cleaned;  that 
children  are  provided  with  places  in  which  to  play;  that  health 
codes  are  put  into  action;  that  thrift  is  understood;  and, 
finally,  that  all  that  there  is  in  friendliness  is  an  accepted 
neighborhood  characteristic.  Citizenship  values  are  con- 
stantly interpreted  and  are  fundamental  in  the  programme. 

The  social  settlement  is  usually  situated  in  a  congested, 
working-class  district.  Many  settlements  are  surrounded  by 
the  foreign-born.  During  the  last  forty  years  the  settlement 
has  made  distinctive  contributions  in  the  way  of  making 
known  the  strength  of  our  different  racial  groups  and  in  stand- 
ing for  that  elemental  power  which  is  constantly  rising  from 
the  supposedly  submerged  ranks  to  make  its  contribution  to 
society.  The  settlement  has  done  pioneer  work  in  district 
nursing,  industrial  education,  in  support  of  legislation  to  pro- 
tect women  and  children,  in  housing  reform,  and  in  the  field  of 
recreation,  and  its  workers  are  to  be  found  in  many  lines  of 
public  service. 

The  motives  mentioned  above  are  interwoven  through  a 
series  of  activities  which  are  carried  on  in  settlement  houses 
as  follows :  baby  hygiene  stations,  health  clinics,  evening  dis- 
pensaries, kindergartens,  gymnasium  and  athletic  classes, 
story-telling,  home-making  classes,  social  classes,  men's 
clubs,  women's  clubs,  music  and  art  groups,  instruction  in 
English,  neighborhood  theaters  and  lectures.  The  activities 
are  many  and  diversified  and  every  age  is  served.  Reciprocal 
relations  are  brought  about  through  neighborhood  calls  that 
deepen  and  make  real  the  human  ties  that  unite  us  all  in 
spite  of  differences  of  experience  and  of  contacts. 


534  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Preparation  necessary 

To  become  a  staff  worker  in  a  settlement  it  is  advisable  to 
take  the  training  offered  in  one  of  the  various  schools  for  social 
work.  The  courses  are  graduate  courses.  The  length  of  the 
same  is  one  year  with  the  opportunity  of  a  second  year  of 
highly  specialized  work.  In  preparation  for  this  advanced 
training  it  is  wise  for  an  undergraduate  to  major  in  sociology, 
economics,  political  science,  industrial  history.  The  following 
schools  are  among  those  offering  training  in  social  settlement 
of  community  organization:  New  York  School  for  Social 
Work;  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy;  Sage 
Foundation  Building,  East  22d  Street,  New  York;  Richmond 
School  for  Social  Work,  Richmond,  Virginia;  Boston  School 
for  Social  Work,  18  Somerset  Street.  A  community  organiza- 
tion course  is  also  given  at  Bryn  Mawr  and  certain  scholar- 
ships are  offered  for  the  same.  Smith  College,  too,  is  training 
for  social  service  in  this  field. 

Supply  and  demand 

The  demand  for  skilled  community  workers  is  far  greater 
than  the  supply  and  with  the  growing  emphasis  in  favor  of 
preventive  efforts  and  self-action  on  the  part  of  groups,  the 
working  with,  and  not  for,  people,  the  openings  for  persons 
of  the  right  caliber  are  bound  to  increase  rapidly.  Those 
who  enter  forms  of  neighborhood  work  can  become  specialists 
in  industrial  legislation,  housing,  vocational  guidance.  They 
can  serve  the  city,  State,  and  Nation  as  members  of  commis- 
sions or  become  department  heads  in  settlements  or  execu- 
tives in  some  of  the  large  community  enterprises  like  organi- 
zation of  rural  districts. 

At  present  there  are  over  2000  workers  in  the  settlement 
field  as  such,  to  say  nothing  of  the  many  who  are  in  somewhat 
similar  forms  of  neighborhood  work.  The  movement  known 
as  the  extended  use  of  school  buildings,  or  the  community 
center  movement,  is  growing  and  will  demand  many  hundreds 
in  the  next  ten  years.    The  spread  of  the  playground  and 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLEMENT  WORKER       535 

recreation  movement  will  also  add  to  the  demand.  All  over 
the  country,  city  after  city  is  adding  community  workers  to 
the  corps  already  engaged  in  philanthropic  effort.  The  West 
and  South  are  fertile  fields  as  those  sections  are  not  as  highly 
specialized  as  the  North  and  East. 

Financial  return 

The  minimum  salaries  to-day  are  $1000.  Salaries  are  steadily 

rising,  however,  to  the  maximum  of  $5000. 

Qualifications  necessary  for  success 

A  SUCCESSFUL  neighborhood  worker  must  above  everything 
else  be  a  real  human  being,  i.e.,  the  kind  of  person  who  gains 
the  confidence  of  others  and  who  has  a  general  liking  for  folks. 
The  vitality  of  health,  the  courage  to  stand  by  conviction, 
the  analytical  power  to  weigh  and  to  balance  facts  and  to 
get  at  cause  and  effect,  an  even  temperament,  the  power  to 
work  on  the  basis  of  a  five-year  aim  are  prime  essentials. 

Probably  no  line  of  social  or  civic  endeavor  gives  to  those 
who  are  engaged  in  it  a  wider  range  of  contact  with  rich  and 
poor,  American-born  and  foreign-bom,  youth  and  old  age, 
than  settlement  work,  nor  leads  into  a  more  intimate  under- 
standing of  the  inner  aspirations  of  the  individual.  To  one 
who  is  creative,  to  one  who  has  something  of  the  make-up 
of  the  novelist  combined  with  belief  in  the  average  man,  the 
social  settlement  opens  up  a  field  of  indescribable  opportunity. 

Disadvantages  and  advantages 

The  disadvantages  of  settlement  work  to  many  are  that  those 
who  adopt  it  live  away  from  their  homes  in  a  type  of  commu- 
nity different  from  that  to  which  they  were  born.  This  often 
entails  a  certain  kind  of  adaptation  which  to  some  is  trying. 
The  life  is  exciting,  as  one  is  constantly  surrounded  by  people, 
and  unless  a  great  deal  of  self-control  is  used,  the  normal 
amount  of  personal  repose  and  the  need  that  every  one  has 
for  being  alone  is  apt  to  be  infringed  upon.  There  is  also  the 


536  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

tendency  to  keep  too  continuously  at  local  tasks  and  to  cut 
one's  self  off  from  one's  own  circle  of  friends.  Vacations,  how- 
ever, are  generous  as  compared  with  other  forms  of  social 
work,  and  the  stimulation  of  variety  of  effort  compensates 
for  much  that  is  necessarily  enervating. 

Suggested  reading 

Any  one  who  is  interested  in  the  growth  of  neighborhood 

enterprises  should  read: 

"  Canon  Barnett,  His  Life,  Work,  and  Friends  **  —  By  his 

Wife. 
"Neighborhood  Guilds"  —  Stanton  Coit. 
"Hull  House  Maps  and  Papers"  —  Jane  Addams. 
*  Twenty  Years  at  Hull  House"  —  Jane  Addams. 
"The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets"  —  Jane  Addams. 
"The  City  Wilderness"  —  Robert  A.  Woods. 
"Americans  in  Process"  —  Robert  A.  Woods. 
"Motives  and  Results  of  the  Social  Settlement  Movement*' 

—  WiUiam  I.  Cole. 
"The  House  on  Henry  Street"  —  Lillian  D.  Wald. 


WORK  WITH  IMMIGRANTS  IN  NEW  YORK 
STATE 

CLARA  B.  SPRINGSTEED 

Assistard  Supervisor  of  Immigrant  Education,  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  which  is  being  carried  on  with  immigrants  falls 
under  two  main  headings,  educational  and  social.  It  aims  to 
help  the  foreign-born  to  discover  himself  and  to  develop  his 
own  possibilities,  to  show  him  the  best  that  America  has  to 
offer,  and  to  assist  him  in  acquiring  that  best. 

The  educational  phases  of  it  are  being  directed  and  super- 
vised by  State  and  local  boards  of  education,  and  by  organi- 


WORK  WITH  IMMIGRANTS  537 

zations  such  as  the  Y.M.C.A.,  National  Catholic  War  Coun- 
cil, Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers,  and  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor.  Many  volunteer  agencies  are  also  assisting 
State  and  local  boards  of  education  in  carrying  out  their  pro- 
grammes. The  social  and  recreational  sides  are  being  devel- 
oped  mostly  by  semi-official  or  non-official  organizations  such 
as  the  American  Red  Cross,  the  American  Legion,  the  Com- 
munity Council,  and  the  Federation  of  Woman's  Clubs. 

Preparation  necessary 

Because  this  work  demands  unusual  resourcefulness,  sym- 
pathy, tact,  intelligence,  and  enthusiasm,  it  requires  very 
extensive  training.  As  a  minimum  one  should  have  com- 
pleted a  four  years'  college  or  university  course  with  special 
emphasis  upon  economics,  sociology,  psychology,  European 
history,  and  modern  languages.  The  languages  chosen  will 
depend  upon  the  racial  group  or  groups  among  which  the 
student  expects  to  work.  In  addition  to  this  she  should  have 
an  intensive  course  in  racial  backgrounds,  racial  characteris- 
tics, organization  of  communities  for  work  with  immigrants, 
and  methods  of  teaching  English  and  civics.  Such  courses 
vary  in  length  from  fifteen  sessions  of  two  hours  each,  as  given 
by  the  New  York  State  Department  of  Education,  to  a  full 
semester's  course  as  at  Syracuse  University,  or  a  full  year's 
course  as  at  Columbia  University. 

All  positions  as  directors,  supervisors,  organizers  and  teach- 
ers of  classes  for  immigrants  under  the  State  Department  of 
Education  are  subject  to  civil  service  requirements,  and 
appointments  are  made  by  the  State  educational  authorities 
from  lists  submitted  to  them  by  the  State  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission. According  to  this  system  advancement  from  one 
position  to  another  is  by  examination. 

Financial  return 

Teachers  receive  $1500  a  year,  organizers  $1800  to  $2000, 

directors  $2400,  supervisors  of  factory  classes  and  of  home 


538  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

classes  $2400,  assistant  supervisors  $3000  to  $3500,  and  super- 
visor $4250. 

Qualifications 

The  qualifications  desirable  for  success  besides  those  already 
mentioned  are  health,  poise,  sense  of  humor,  power  to  inspire 
confidence,  and  sincere  friendship. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

If  one  is  genuinely  interested  in  the  worth  of  the  individual, 
in  human  beings  as  human  beings,  in  converting  helplessness, 
hopelessness,  self-distrust,  and  conscious  incapacity  into 
power,  courage,  and  self-rehance,  in  the  reduction  of  class 
and  racial  prejudices,  in  a  square  deal  for  ally  then  the  work 
with  immigrants  will  bring  rare  joy  and  satisfaction. 

It  brings  one  into  association  with  all  classes,  races,  and 
creeds,  and,  because  of  its  popularity  with  every  kind  of  man 
and  woman  from  the  richest  to  the  poorest,  the  most  radical 
to  the  most  conservative,  the  most  intellectual  to  the  most 
ignorant,  it  is  unusually  large  in  scope.  It  is  above  all  a  human 
job  and  depends  upon  personality  and  personal  relationships. 

Its  demands  upon  the  worker  are  unlimited.  There  are  no 
set  hours  for  the  work  and  no  limit  to  the  time  to  be  spent. 
One  has  to  be  willing  to  sacrifice  one's  own  social  engagements 
in  order  to  gain  the  larger  happiness  which  comes  from  un- 
stinted giving  of  one's  self  to  the  cause. 

Its  very  magnitude  is  appealing  to  the  average  college 
girl  of  ideals  and  enthusiasm.  Her  age  is  one  imdimmed  and 
undiminished  by  harsh  contacts  and  disillusionments.  The 
very  fact  that  she,  like  Faust,  desires  the  impossible  makes  her 
an  inspiring  leader. 

Extent  of  occupation 

There  are  in  New  York  State  about  1271  classes  for  immi- 
grants, with  17,718  enrolled.  This  number  does  not  include 
all  the  classes  for  immigrants  in  public  evening  schools.  It 
represents  only  those  classes  in  public  schools  which  are  under 


WORK  WITH  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE       539 

the  supervision  of  our  workers  and  includes  also  classes  in 
factories,  hotels,  neighborhood  and  settlement  houses  and 
homes.  That  we  have  only  begun  to  touch  the  edges  of  the 
work  is  quite  apparent.  We  have  only  about  seventy-five 
people  giving  full  time  to  it,  and  yet  New  York  State  has  the 
largest  percentage  of  illiteracy  of  any  State  in  the  Union. 

WORK  WITH  THE  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE 

The  Clinical  Psychologist,  Social  Worker,  Teacher 

AND  Physician,  and  all  Work  with  Cases 

suspected  of  Mental  Defect 

JESSIE  M.  OSTRANDER,  M.A. 

Massachusetts  School  for  Feeble-Minded 
CLINICAL  PSYCHOLOGIST 

Description  of  occupation 

The  work  of  the  clinical  psychologist  is  (1)  to  examine  the 
patient  making  objective  measurements  of  his  general  and 
special  abihties  (using  standardized  tests),  and  making  sub- 
jective judgments  of  his  abilities  from  his  appearance  and 
behavior  and  from  the  history  of  the  patient  and  his  family, 
and  the  physician's  report  of  his  physical  condition;  (2)  to 
give  a  diagnosis  of  the  patient  if  his  abnormality  lies  in  the 
realm  of  mental  defect  or  superiority,  or  refer  him  to  a  medical 
clinic  if  his  difficulties  lie  in  other  lines;  (3)  to  estimate  his 
probable  progress;  and  (4)  to  advise  treatment  —  educa- 
tional, environmental. 

The  actual  work  done  in  institutions  and  in  connection 
with  hospitals,  institutions,  courts,  and  schools  usually  con- 
sists of  the  work  outlined  above.  The  case  often  is  studied 
by  an  examining  staff  which  may  consist  of  a  physician,  social 
worker  or  historian,  and  a  psychologist.  The  diagnosis  and 
advice  is  then  given  by  this  staff  in  conference.  Psychologists 
working  in  institutions  have  an  opportunity  to  watch  the  prog- 
ress of  the  patients  under  new  conditions;  and  to  reexamine 


540  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

them  from  time  to  time.  There  is  also  an  opportunity  to  study 
the  characteristics  of  different  types  of  defect,  en  masse.  The 
amount  of  experimental  work  done  in  proportion  to  the  rou- 
tine examinations  depends  on  the  liberality  of  the  individual 
organization  and  the  initiative  of  the  individual  worker. 

Clinical  psychologists  are  employed  in  making  surveys  of 
communities.  The  character  of  this  work  depends  on  the  pur- 
pose of  the  particular  survey  and  cannot  be  generally  defined. 

Preparation  or  training  necessary 

The  American  Psychological  Association  in  1919  adopted  a 
resolution  approving  the  standard  set  in  the  Wisconsin  Law 
of  1919  which  reads  as  follows:  "No  one  shall  be  recognized 
as  a  clinical  psychologist,  unless  he  or  she  has  completed 
graduate  work  in  psychology  to  the  doctorate  in  psychology, 
including  work  in  psychiatry  and  neurology." 

New  York  State  defines  a  clinical  psychologist,  in  the  Men- 
tal Deficiency  Law  of  1919,  as  "one  who  has  had  two  full 
years  of  post-graduate  study  in  psychology  at  an  incorporated 
college  or  university." 

The  standards  vary  in  other  States. 

Many  people  who  have  not  the  requirements  mentioned 
above  are  employed  in  institutions  and  clinics  to  make  psycho- 
logical examinations.  These  examiners  have  to  work  with  a 
physician  or  psychologist  who  is  so  qualified,  and  the  diagno- 
sis and  advice  have  to  be  given  by  this  physician  or  psy- 
chologist. 

There  is  at  present  no  standardized  list  of  courses  of  study 
which  are  required,  though  the  following  are  some  of  the 
courses  which  have  been  suggested: 

"1.  Certain  preliminary  courses  to  be  pursued  by  all 
kinds  of  applied  psychologists,  including  the  usual  under- 
graduate and  graduate  courses  in  general,  functional,  genetic, 
educational,  physiological,  and  experimental  psychology,  men- 
tal and  anthropometric  tests,  child  study,  biology,  human 
anatomy,  physiology,  and  hygiene. 


WORK  WITH  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE      541 

"2.  Special  courses  in  clinical  psychology,  including  a  de- 
tailed study  of  the  psychological  methods  applicable  in  in- 
dividual examinations  and  the  practical  examination  of  at 
least  two  hundred  cases.  In  addition,  an  institutional  intern- 
ship of  one  year  affording  opportunity  for  the  many-sided 
first-hand  observation  and  study  of  the  feeble-minded,  epi- 
leptic, and  insane  is  recommended. 

"3.  Certain  preliminary  pedagogical  courses,  including 
particularly  a  study  of  standardized  educational  tests  and 
scores,  a  study  of  primary  methods  of  teaching,  especially 
the  methods  of  teaching  reading,  spelling  and  number  and 
the  methods  of  kindergarten,  and  courses  in  school  super- 
vision and  educational  sociology. 

"4.  Courses  dealing  with  the  psychology  and  pedagogy  of 
the  various  types  of  mental  deviation  of  anomaHes  met  with 
in  school  children,  including  backwardness,  feeble-minded- 
ness,  visual  aphasia  and  dyslexia,  reading,  writing,  and  num- 
ber defects,  sensory  defects  of  the  eye  and  ear,  speech  handi- 
caps, delinquency,  etc.;  courses  dealing  with  the  curriculum 
for  special  and  ungraded  classes,  including  practical  courses 
in  the  various  types  of  handicraft  to  be  offered  feeble-minded 
and  backward  children.  These  courses  should  include  the 
observation  of  the  teaching  of  various  types  of  defective 
children.  It  would  be  well  if  a  certain  amount  of  cadet  or 
practice  teaching  could  be  included  with  selected  cases. 

"5.  Social  pathology,  including  a  study  of  the  social,  vo- 
cational, and  criminal  aspects  of  mental  deficiency  and 
defect. 

"6.  A  minimum  amount  of  medical  work,  including  courses 
in  physical  diagnosis,  pediatrics,  nose,  throat,  eye  and  ear 
disorders,  orthopedics,  mental  deficiency  from  the  physical 
point  of  view,  and  neurology  and  psychiatry  (particularly  the 
nervous  and  mental  disorders  of  children).'*  ^ 

1  J.  E.  W.  Wallin,  "The  Field  of  the  Clinical  Psychologist  and  the  Kind  of 
Training  needed  by  the  Psychological  Examiner,"  School  and  Society,  April 
19.  1919,  p.  469. 


542  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Undoubtedly,  much  the  best  personal  equipment  is  to  be 
found  in  the  combination  of  medical,  including  clinical  train- 
ing, with  previous  instructions  in  normal  psychology,  and 
actual  experience  in  studying  abnormal  mental  types."  ^ 

Dr.  Walter  E.  Fernald  says  that  several  months  of  actual 
handling  and  contact  with  the  feeble-minded  in  an  institution 
(for  instance  as  an  attendant),  followed  by  the  graduate 
courses  given  by  the  best  universities  for  the  training  of 
clinical  psychologists,  makes  an  excellent  equipment  for 
work  with  the  feeble-minded. 

There  seems  to  be  a  unanimous  opinion  that  training  re- 
quires three  years  of  post-graduate  work,  one  of  which  may 
be  spent  in  research  or  internship. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  for  the  clinical  psychol- 
ogists as  defined  above,  is  unlimited.  They  may  work  in  in- 
stitutions, courts,  schools,  clinics  for  research,  and  all  kinds 
of  organizations  that  handle  human  problems,  where  mental 
defect  is  involved.  The  opportunity  for  advancement  for 
"testers"  without  this  equipment  is  very  small.  They  are 
usually  employed  in.  institutions  at  small  salaries.  They  work 
under  the  direction  of  some  one  else,  and  through  lack  of 
insight  their  work  becomes  routine  drudgery. 

Financial  return 

Salaries  for  psycho-clinicians  are  $2000  and  up.  Salaries 
for  partially  trained  workers,  i.e.,  those  who  have  a  master's 
degree  in  psychology,  but  have  not  yet  acquired  their  doctor- 
ate, are  $1200  and  up. 

Qualifications 

The  best  clinicians  have  a  personality  that  inspires  the  con- 
fidence of  the  patient  and  brings  out  their  best  efforts;  at  the 

*  William  Healy,  The  Individual  Delinquent^  p.  57.  Littie,  Brown  &  Co. 
(1915). 


WORK  WITH  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE      543 

same  time  the  clinicians  judge  the  reactions  of  the  patient 
coolly  and  without  sentimental  bias.  Some  have  such  traits, 
some  acquire  them,  some  never  can  acquire  them. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  contacts  and  confinement  depend  entirely  on  the  indi- 
vidual position,  its  geographic  location  and  the  personnel 
of  the  staff.  It  is  a  human  problem  throughout  and  full  of 
human  interest. 

Supply  and  demand 

At  present  the  demand  for  clinical  psychologists  is  greater 
than  the  supply  and  it  is  increasing  more  rapidly  than  the 
supply.  As  more  and  more  States  follow  the  example  of 
Massachusetts  in  providing  for  a  traveling  clinic  to  examine 
cases  all  over  the  State,  the  demand  must  increase. 

SOCIAL  WORKERS 

The  work  of  the  social  worker  who  deals  with  mental  defect 
may  be  in  one  or  both  of  the  following  fields: 

The  first  is  to  contribute  to  the  diagnosis  the  history  of  the 
life  of  the  patient  up  to  the  time  of  examination,  and  an  in- 
vestigation and  appraisal  of  the  environment  from  which  the 
patient  comes. 

The  second  is  to  investigate  the  social  and  economic  en- 
vironment into  which  patients  are  discharged  or  placed  on 
trial,  and  to  supervise  the  life  of  the  feeble-minded  in  the 
community.  The  work  may  be  done  in  connection  with  an 
institution  for  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded,  a  school,  court, 
or  a  charity  organization. 

Schools  for  social  service  are  including  in  their  courses  of 
training  some  instruction  concerning  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded. Comprehension  of  the  feeble-minded  problem, 
gained  through  classroom  study  or  experience  in  teaching  or 
handling  feeble-minded  in  schools  or  institutions,  is  very 
useful. 


542  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Undoubtedly,  much  the  best  personal  equipment  is  to  be 
found  in  the  combination  of  medical,  including  clinical  train- 
ing, with  previous  instructions  in  normal  psychology,  and 
actual  experience  in  studying  abnormal  mental  types."  ^ 

Dr.  Walter  E.  Fernald  says  that  several  months  of  actual 
handling  and  contact  with  the  feeble-minded  in  an  institution 
(for  instance  as  an  attendant),  followed  by  the  graduate 
courses  given  by  the  best  universities  for  the  training  of 
clinical  psychologists,  makes  an  excellent  equipment  for 
work  with  the  feeble-minded. 

There  seems  to  be  a  unanimous  opinion  that  training  re- 
quires three  years  of  post-graduate  work,  one  of  which  may 
be  spent  in  research  or  internship. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  for  the  clinical  psychol- 
ogists as  defined  above,  is  unlimited.  They  may  work  in  in- 
stitutions, courts,  schools,  clinics  for  research,  and  all  kinds 
of  organizations  that  handle  human  problems,  where  mental 
defect  is  involved.  The  opportunity  for  advancement  for 
"testers"  without  this  equipment  is  very  small.  They  are 
usually  employed  in,  institutions  at  small  salaries.  They  work 
under  the  direction  of  some  one  else,  and  through  lack  of 
insight  their  work  becomes  routine  drudgery. 

Financial  return 

Salaries  for  psycho-clinicians  are  $2000  and  up.  Salaries 
for  partially  trained  workers,  i.e.,  those  who  have  a  master's 
degree  in  psychology,  but  have  not  yet  acquired  their  doctor- 
ate, are  $1200  and  up. 

Qualifications 

The  best  clinicians  have  a  personality  that  inspires  the  con- 
fidence of  the  patient  and  brings  out  their  best  efforts;  at  the 

1  William  Healy,  The  Inditndud  Delinquent,  p.  57.  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 
(1915). 


WORK  WITH  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE      543 

same  time  the  clinicians  judge  the  reactions  of  the  patient 
coolly  and  without  sentimental  bias.  Some  have  such  traits, 
some  acquire  them,  some  never  can  acquire  them. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  contacts  and  confinement  depend  entirely  on  the  indi- 
vidual position,  its  geographic  location  and  the  personnel 
of  the  staff.  It  is  a  human  problem  throughout  and  full  of 
human  interest. 

Supply  and  demand 

At  present  the  demand  for  clinical  psychologists  is  greater 
than  the  supply  and  it  is  increasing  more  rapidly  than  the 
supply.  As  more  and  more  States  follow  the  example  of 
Massachusetts  in  providing  for  a  traveling  clinic  to  examine 
cases  all  over  the  State,  the  demand  must  increase. 

SOCIAL  WORKERS 

The  work  of  the  social  worker  who  deals  with  mental  defect 
may  be  in  one  or  both  of  the  following  fields: 

The  first  is  to  contribute  to  the  diagnosis  the  history  of  the 
life  of  the  patient  up  to  the  time  of  examination,  and  an  in- 
vestigation and  appraisal  of  the  environment  from  which  the 
patient  comes. 

The  second  is  to  investigate  the  social  and  economic  en- 
vironment into  which  patients  are  discharged  or  placed  on 
trial,  and  to  supervise  the  life  of  the  feeble-minded  in  the 
community.  The  work  may  be  done  in  connection  with  an 
institution  for  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded,  a  school,  court, 
or  a  charity  organization. 

Schools  for  social  service  are  including  in  their  courses  of 
training  some  instruction  concerning  the  care  of  the  feeble- 
minded. Comprehension  of  the  feeble-minded  problem, 
gained  through  classroom  study  or  experience  in  teaching  or 
handling  feeble-minded  in  schools  or  institutions,  is  very 
useful. 


544  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Probably  the  best  training  now  available  is  the  training 
given  psychiatric  social  workers,  such  as  the  courses  given  at 
Smith  College  Training  School  for  Psychiatric  Social  Work- 
ers. Here  classroom  work  is  given  in  the  summer  terms  and 
practice  work  between  the  summer  schools.  This  course  is  not 
designed  especially  to  train  workers  for  work  with  the  mental 
defectives,  but  it  is  designed  for  training  the  students  to 
handle  all  kinds  of  mental  disorders,  and  has  special  courses 
dealing  with  children  and  child  welfare  and  industrial  wel- 
fare. 

Such  schools  as  the  School  of  Philanthropy  in  New  York 
and  the  School  for  Social  Work  in  Boston  offer  training.  To 
such  training  should  be  added  experience  gained  by  dealing 
with  defectives  in  their  daily  life. 

The  preliminary  undergraduate  courses  would  be  the  usual 
courses  in  sociology,  economics,  psychology,  and  child  study. 

The  whole  training  should  take  more  than  one  year  post- 
graduate work.  Some  of  the  time,  however,  should  be  spent 
in  practice  work.  There  are  a  few  positions  open  to  mature 
experienced  women  who  are  not  college  graduates.  Such 
women,  however,  need  to  spend  some  time  in  special  study 
of  the  feeble-minded  in  order  to  make  their  work  most 
effective. 

There  is  opportunity  for  advancement  in  the  field,  but  it 
is  hard  to  estimate  as  it  is  so  new.  At  present  few  organiza- 
tions employ  more  than  one  worker  and  there  are  few  heads 
of  social  service  departments  which  deal  largely  with  feeble- 
minded. 

Financial  returns  are  from  $1200  to  $2000. 

The  social  worker  in  this  field  must  have  unlimited  skill, 
sympathy,  patience,  persuasive  powers,  inasmuch  as  not 
only  the  patient,  but  the  family  with  which  she  deals  often 
has  difficulty  in  comprehending  the  situation. 

The  work  is  largely  out  of  doors,  traveling.  The  worker 
meets  many  people  of  all  kinds;  employers,  employees,  people 
of  the  church  and  people  of  the  streets. 


WORK  WITH  MENTALLY  DEFECTIVE      545 

There  are  no  available  statistics  on  supply  and  demand. 
The  demand  for  good,  well-trained,  social  workers  far  exceeds 
the  supply. 

TEACHERS 

The  teacher  with  good  normal-school  training  and  the  pa- 
tience to  deal  with  slow-moving  minds  makes  a  good  teacher 
for  defectives. 

There  is  no  special  training  required,  although  any  addi- 
tional study  of  mental  defect  is  useful. 

The  financial  returns  are  from  $100  to  $300  a  year  more 
than  those  of  the  regular  grade  teachers. 

PHYSICIANS 

Positions  dealing  with  the  mentally  defective  are  open  to 
physicians  who  have  not  had  any  further  training  than  their 
medical  training.  To  the  physician  who  has  graduated  from 
a  good  medical  school  with  as  much  additional  work  in 
neurology,  psychiatry,  and  psychology  as  possible,  and  who 
has  had  general  hospital  experience  and  experience  in  an 
institution  where  one  comes  in  close  contact  with  defectives, 
there  is  a  growing  field  of  usefulness. 

Suggested  reading 

"Feeble-Mindedness;    Its    Causes    and  Consequences"  — 

H.  H.  Goddard.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1914. 
"Psychology  of  the  Normal  and  Subnormal"  —  H.  H.  God- 
dard. Dodd,  Mead  &  Co. 
"The  Development  of  Intelligence  in  Children"  —  Alfred 

Binet  and  Th.  Simon.   Translated  by  Elizabeth  S.  Kite. 

Publications  of  the  Training  School  at  Vineland. 
"The  Intelligence  of  the  Feeble-Minded"  — Alfred  Binet 

and  Th.   Simon.    Translated   by   Elizabeth   S.   Kite. 

Publications  of  the  Training  School  at  Vineland. 
"The  Measurement  of  Intelligence"  —  Lewis  M.  Terman, 

Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 


546  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

"Education  of  Defectives  in  the  Public  Schools"  —  Meta 

Anderson.  World  Book  Company. 
"Brightness  and  Dullness  in  Children"  —  Herbert  Woodrow. 

J.  B.  Lippincott  Company. 


THE  WORKER  WITH  GHILS  WHO  ARE  MISFITS 

MABELLE  B.  BLAKE 

General  Secretary,  Boston  Society  for  the  Care  of  Girls 

Description  of  occupation 

The  worker  comes  in  contact  with  the  girl  who  through  mis- 
fortune or  adverse  circumstances  needs  re-education  in  her 
home,  in  her  school,  or  place  of  employment,  and  in  the  com- 
munity. Her  lack  of  opportunity  may  have  resulted  in  de- 
linquency, sex  offenses,  waywardness,  stubbornness,  and  she 
usually  presents  a  diflficult  problem. 

There  are  various  types  of  work  for  the  one  dealing  with 
these  girls. 

There  is  the  investigator,  to  whom  the  problem  comes  for 
diagnosis.  She  makes  a  thorough  study  of  the  girl  as  to  her 
social,  physical,  and  mental  background  in  order  to  determine 
just  what  readjustment  she  needs.  The  investigator  must 
gain  the  knowledge  of  her  mental  capacity  and  know  thor- 
oughly the  community  in  which  she  has  lived  in  order  that 
she  may  understand  the  reason  for  the  standards  which  the 
girl  may  have. 

There  is  the  "follow-up"  worker  who  has  the  responsibility 
of  supervising  the  girl.  This  may  begin  in  the  girl's  own  home 
or  in  a  carefully  selected  family.  Supervision  means  visiting 
the  girl  in  the  home  as  often  as  her  needs  require,  watching 
her  physical  and  mental  development,  adjusting  her  in 
school  or  employment  and  planning  her  leisure  time.  It  also 
means  keeping  in  touch  with  the  girl's  parents,  hoping  even- 
tually that  she  may  return  to  her  own  family. 

There  is  the  policewoman  who  works  either  under  the  super- 


WORK  WITH  GIRLS  WHO  ARE  MISFITS     547 

intendent  of  police  or  she  may  be  connected  with  a  separate 
bureau  working  in  close  cooperation  with  the  police  force. 
The  policewoman  often  patrols  the  streets  to  get  in  touch 
with  the  young  girl  who  is  just  beginning  to  be  wayward. 
She  also  protects  her  in  the  court  when  necessary. 

Again  there  is  the  woman  probation  officer  to  whom  is 
assigned  for  care  and  supervision  the  girls  who  have  been  in 
court,  but  who  the  judge  believes  can  remain  in  the  commu- 
nity if  given  the  proper  care. 

There  are  also  the  workers  with  girls  in  disciplinary  institu- 
tions who  help  in  the  academic  and  industrial  training  and  in 
the  character-building  of  the  girl. 

Preparation  necessary 

Regardless  of  the  type  of  work  it  is  desirable  that  the  worker 
should  have  a  college  education.  She  should  take  courses  in 
physiology,  economics,  psychology,  social  psychiatry  if  possi- 
ble, sociology,  and  one  which  will  give  her  some  idea  of  com- 
munity problems.  After  leaving  college  she  should  preferably 
take  a  year's  course  in  a  school  of  social  work,  such  as  the 
New  York  School  of  Social  Work,  the  Chicago  School  of  Civics 
and  Philanthropy,  or  the  Boston  School  of  Social  Work. 
Sometimes,  however,  the  student  may  get  her  training  with  an 
agency  dealing  with  girl  problems.  This  takes  at  least  a  year 
and  is  not  so  desirable  as  the  school  which  includes  both 
technical  and  field  work. 

If  an  undergraduate  is  interested,  it  is  most  advantageous 
for  her  to  spend  some  time  in  the  summer  with  an  organiza- 
tion working  with  girls.  This  not  only  gives  her  contact  with 
the  work,  but  also  an  acquaintance  with  people  who  are  spe- 
cialists in  the  field. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

There  is  opportunity  for  advancement.  ^One  can  eventually 

be  an  executive  if  she  is  capable. 


548   .  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

Financial  return 

At  the  present  time  of  writing  salaries  are  variable  and  there 
is  no  fixed  scale.  College  graduates  with  a  year's  course  at 
one  of  the  schools  can  begin  on  a  minimum  of  $1200.  To  the 
college  graduate  who  receives  her  training  with  an  agency 
there  is  no  financial  remuneration  during  the  training,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  year  she  may  receive  $1200.  The  probable  max- 
imum for  an  executive  is  $3500. 

Qualifications 

A  PLEASING  personality  is  an  essential  qualification  for  suc- 
cess. She  should  have  good  health  and  be  able  to  stand  physi- 
cal strains.  The  worker  should  also  be  sympathetic  yet  posi- 
tive, optimistic,  sincere  in  purpose,  and  she  must  have  a  keen 
sense  of  humor.  She  should  know  how  to  "play,"  be  flexible, 
and  radiate  the  qualities  which  she  hopes  to  inculcate  within 
the  girl. 

Experience  in  the  field  will  bring  more  skill  in  the  handling 
of  the  individual  problem.  Experience  will  also  enable  the 
worker  to  be  better  able  to  study  character  and  environment 
and  get  a  better  understanding  of  the  individual. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  are  great.  The  worker  is  constantly  dealing 
with  human  beings,  no  two  problems  are  alike,  and  she  has 
abundant  opportunity  for  character  study.  She  often  realizes 
that  she  is  giving  many  girls  their  first  chance  in  life  for 
"making  good."  The  work  also  takes  the  worker  out  of 
doors  the  greater  part  of  the  time. 

The  work  has  its  disadvantages.  The  hours  are  sometimes 
long  and  for  the  policewoman  night  work  is  essential.  The 
work  at  the  court  is  trying  and  there  is  both  a  mental  and 
physical  strain  in  dealing  with  so  many  serious  problems. 

Supply  and  demand 

All  over  the  country  there  is  a  growing  demand  for  workers 

to  help  with  the  girl  who  is  a  misfit.  At  the  present  time  the 


WORK  WITH  GIRLS  WHO  ARE  MISFITS     549 

demand  far  exceeds  the  supply  and  the  future  will  bring  even 
greater  opportunities. 

Readings 

The  following  books  are  suggested: 

"The  Neglected  Girl"  —  Ruth  S.  True.  Russell  Sage  Foun- 
dation. 

"Juvenile  Courts  and  Probation"  —  Bernard  Flexner,  Roger 
N.  Baldwin.   Century  Company,  New  York. 

"The  Delinquent  Child  and  the  Home"  —  Breckinridge  and 
Abbott.  Russell  Sage  Foundation. 


SPECIALISTS 
THE  FOREIGN  TRADE  RESEARCH  WORKER 

ELLEN  B.  LEWIS 

Foreign  Trade  Bureau,  Guaranty  Trust  Company ^  New  York  City 

Description  of  occupation  and  preparation  necessary 
There  is  no  royal  road  to  success  in  foreign  trade,  although 
there  is  no  reason  why  women  may  not  satisfactorily  cope 
with  men  in  this  work.  The  requisites  are  a  good  common- 
school  education,  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  economics, 
psychology,  business  practice,  an  observing  mind,  and  lots 
of  imagination.  A  reading  knowledge  of  several  languages  is 
helpful  and  in  most  cases  essential.  Many  courses  on  foreign 
trade  are  now  being  offered  throughout- the  country;  for  in- 
stance, in  Georgetown  University,  in  Columbia  University, 
in  fact  in  most  of  the  larger  universities  and  colleges  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  Y.M.C.A.'s  of  the  larger  cities.  As  most 
of  these  courses  have  been  instituted  within  a  very  short  time, 
it  is  too  early  to  predict  how  much  they  offer  improvements 
over  a  good,  well-rounded  college  course.  The  studies  elected 
in  such  a  coiu-se  should  include  tw^o  or  three  languages,  with 
practical  translations  of  business  idioms,  economics,  psychol- 
ogy, a  little  commercial  law  if  possible,  history,  and  current 
events.  With  this  as  a  foundation  a  woman  possessed  of 
imagination  and  an  analytical  mind  will  be  able  to  secure 
her  post-graduate  work  in  her  job,  where  there  are  infinite 
opportunities  for  advancement. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  in  the  line  of  foreign  trade  lie  in  what  is 
academically  called  research  work.  During  the  course  of  a 
single  day  a  research  worker  may  be  called  upon  to  answer 
as  many  questions,  and  frequently  as  foolish  ones,  as  are 


FOREIGN  TRADE  RESEARCH  WORKER     551 

answered  at  the  information  desk  of  a  large  railway.  These 
questions  include  studies  of  economic  conditions  in  specified 
countries,  surveys  of  foreign  markets  looking  to  the  intro- 
duction of  certain  commodities,  statements  of  the  formalities 
with  which  American  houses  will  have  to  comply  before  they 
may  establish  branches  abroad,  credit  terms  prevalent  in 
specific  markets,  trade-mark  and  patent  laws,  tariff  regula- 
tions, advertising  media  abroad,  commercial  travelers*  regu- 
lations, electrification  of  railways,  the  development  of  native 
industries  which  may  shut  American  houses  out  of  well- 
developed  markets,  competition,  and  many  other  subjects 
too  numerous  to  mention. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

I  CAN  imagine  no  work  in  which  there  is  less  monotony  and 
rigid  routine.  To  develop  proper  sources  of  information  and 
to  keep  abreast  of  market  conditions  both  here  and  abroad, 
the  worker  must  constantly  make  new  acquaintanceships  and 
meet  people  of  every  race  and  creed  and  every  line  of  business. 
There  is  much  hard  work,  and  when  business  is  active  in- 
quiries may  pile  in  at  such  a  rate  that  the  worker  may  be- 
come hard-pushed  for  expression. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  varies  with  the  employer  and  employee 
with  as  great  a  variation  as  in  the  teaching  profession.  As  in 
the  teaching  profession  also  there  is  a  tendency  among  em- 
ployers to  raise  the  minimum  salary  so  as  to  provide  more 
nearly  adequate  compensation  to  the  worker  who  must  study 
constantly  and  buy  many  books  and  periodicals  for  the  fur- 
therance of  her  efforts. 

Supply  and  demand 

At  the  present  time  there  is  more  and  more  demand  for 
trained,  that  is,  experienced,  workers  in  the  line  of  foreign 
trade  investigation.   This  demand  comes  mostly  from  trade 


554  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

It  consists  in  the  enumeration  of  ancestors  and  their  de- 
scendants in  the  natural  order  of  succession.  To  be  accepted 
as  authentic,  such  enumeration  must  be  verified  by  proofs, 
whose  resources  cannot  be  questioned.  The  research  which 
estabHshes  genealogical  records  with  proofs  is  the  work  of  the 
professional  genealogist.  The  great  historian,  Thomas  Car- 
lyle,  said  more  than  a  century  ago,  "There  is  a  great  deal 
more  in  genealogies  than  is  generally  believed  at  present." 
Time  has  proved  these  words  a  prophecy.  Though  at  present 
no  school  offers  special  training  along  this  line,  the  possibility 
of  an  early  move  in  this  direction  has  foundation.  It  may  re- 
sult in  the  establishment  of  chairs  of  history  and  genealogy  in 
our  colleges  and  universities. 

Preparation  necessary 

Certain  courses,  elective  in  our  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, should  enable  one  to  begin  the  work  intelligently.  Such 
preparation  should  include  a  broad  knowledge  of  history; 
especially  a  familiarity  with  the  history  of  England  and  Hol- 
land three  centuries  ago,  and  the  settlement  and  growth  of 
the  United  States;  a  thorough  knowledge  of  English  and  its 
correct  use;  the  study  of  psychology,  giving  an  insight  into 
the  processes  of  human  thought;  ability  to  understand  and 
decipher  compilations  of  records  and  documents,  both  civil 
and  legal;  knowledge  of  how  to  collect  and  classify  facts  into 
statistics;  good  penmanship,  accurate  and  legible,  is  a  requi- 
site; skill  in  shorthand  for  personal  interviews  and  ability  to 
use  the  typewriter  for  final  copies  would  prove  an  asset  in 
time-saving. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  progress  made  in  this  profession  rests  largely  upon  the 

efforts  put  forth  by  the  individual. 

Financial  return 

The  class  and  amount  of  work  to  be  done  determines  com- 
pensation. Contracts  are  frequently  made  embracing  months 


THE  GENEALOGIST  555 

or  years  of  research.  Specifications  in  detail  as  to  salary,  ex- 
penses, and  other  items  are  carefully  noted.  The  newspapers 
recently  published  the  settlement  of  an  estate  in  which  the 
genealogist  received  $15,000  for  services  in  determining  the 
heirs  at  law.  Work  by  the  hour  commands  a  rate  of  $1.50  or 
more.  Traveling  expenses  and  similar  items  call  for  a  special 
charge  in  research  work. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

Chief  among  desirable  natural  qualifications  for  success  are 
the  following:  love  of  kindred  and  a  sympathetic  interest  in 
human  life;  tireless  patience  and  perseverance;  active  imagi- 
nation, not  erratic;  sound  and  disciplined  judgment;  retentive 
memory  and  a  conscientious  regard  to  truth  and  thoroughness. 
Tracing  one's  own  ancestry  is  a  wise  suggestion  for  begin- 
ning. This  gives  experience  and  creates  interest.  One  gains 
in  skill,  accuracy,  and  concentration  with  each  new  phase. 
The  perceptions  are  trained  to  be  keenly  alive  in  discerning 
and  tracing  clues.  Ability  to  reason  from  cause  to  effect  is 
gained.  It  is  advisable  to  refer  information  not  obtainable  to 
a  specialist.  This  gives  an  insight  into  professional  methods 
and  serves  as  a  model  for  future  reference. 

Advantages 

Advantages  are  manifold.  Materials  required  for  correct 
records  are  scattered.  Search  must  be  carried  on  wherever 
records  have  been  made  by  mankind.  One  must  interview 
and  correspond  with  kin  of  the  present  generation,  bearing 
family  names.  Five  years  ago  it  was  the  author's  privilege  to 
travel  over  ten  thousand  miles  in  quest  of  genealogical  data. 
Among  the  hundreds  of  kin  met  and  interviewed  in  no  in- 
stance can  a  lack  of  interest  or  cooperation  be  recorded.  The 
results  in  establishing  local  centers  of  interest  have  been 
phenomenal. 

The  work  demands  intense  concentration:  hence  it  pro- 
hibits prolonged  hours  and  close  confinement.    Five  or  six 


556  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

hours  may  be  considered  a  day  of  sufficient  length.  In  con- 
sulting records  requiring  possible  eye-strain,  a  shorter  period 
is  advisable. 

Extent  of  occupation  —  Supply  and  demand 
Formerly  the  mass  of  genealogical  data  was  compiled  by 
persons  of  leisure  in  middle  life  who  were  termed  "faddists." 
This  wrong  estimate  of  its  importance  was  revolutionized  by 
the  advent  of  hereditary  patriotic  societies.  The  Sons  (and 
Daughters)  of  the  American  Revolution  and  a  score  of  others 
have  added  great  impetus  to  historic-genealogical  research. 
The  long  lists  of  membership  in  these  societies  testify  to  this 
fact  as  well  as  the  wide  range  of  locality  interested. 

In  a  recent  catalogue  of  genealogies  and  books  relating 
thereto  a  reliable  firm  published  a  list  of  nearly  four  thousand 
volumes.  This  gives  added  proof  of  the  wide  scope  of  inter- 
est: it  also  certifies  to  the  large  number  of  persons  engaged 
in  this  field  of  work. 

Reading 

In  1844  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society  was 
formed  in  Boston.  To  these  generous  public-spirited  citizens 
we  are  greatly  indebted  for  its  valuable  carefully  preserved 
records.  Its  extensive  library  is  free  to  the  public.  One  who 
wishes  a  familiarity  with  books  pertaining  to  genealogy  will 
do  well  to  become  intimately  associated  with  this  vast  store- 
house of  information,  either  by  correspondence  or  in  person. 


THE  SPECIALIST  IN  LABOR  LEGISLATION 

IRENE  SYLVESTER  CHUBB 

American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation 

Description  of  occupation 

Labor  legislation  is  a  specialized  branch  of  a  large  occupa- 
tional field.   An  ever-increasing  number  of  organizations  are 


SPECIALIST  IN  LABOR  LEGISLATION       557 

being  formed  whose  purpose,  in  whole  or  in  part,  is  to  apply 
the  legislative  method  to  various  problems  of  social  reform. 
The  work  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League,  the  American  Social 
Hygiene  Association,  the  National  Child  Labor  Committee, 
the  National  Consumers'  League,  the  National  Short  Ballot 
Organization,  the  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation, 
and  similar  organizations,  in  so  far  as  it  aims  to  secure  reform 
through  legislation  is  fundamentally  alike.  All  these  organiza- 
tions require,  in  more  or  less  specialized  degree,  an  executive 
secretary,  a  membership  or  finance  secretary,  a  research  de- 
partment, a  bill-drafting  department,  a  clerical  department, 
a  publicity  department,  field  organizers,  speakers  and  lobby- 
ists. The  qualities  and  technique  needed  for  success  in  any  of 
these  functions  are  common  to  all  organizations  of  this  type. 
The  difference  lies  in  the  specialized  knowledge  in  which  the 
particular  organization  is  dealing.  To  "put  across"  prohibi- 
tion necessitates  knowledge  of  all  phases  of  the  liquor  ques- 
tion past  and  present,  pro  and  con.  Similarly,  to  secure  good 
labor  laws  necessitates  knowledge  of  the  history  of  labor  and 
labor  legislation,  knowledge  of  the  conditions  which  it  is  de- 
sired to  correct  and  expert  knowledge  of  the  best  way  to  apply 
the  remedy. 

Because  many  organizations  in  the  legislative  field  are 
small,  it  frequently  happens  that  the  functions  of  research, 
bill-drafting,  publicity,  organization,  etc.,  must,  for  financial 
expediency,  be  combined  in  one  person.  For  this  reason  the 
most  fortunate  candidate  for  a  position  will  be  one  whose 
inborn  characteristics  combine  adaptability,  initiative,  tact, 
and  personality  with  sound  common  sense.  Possessing  these 
talents  an  all-round  college  training  emphasizing  economics, 
writing,  speaking,  law,  and  an  executive  part  in  student 
organizations  will  be  most  helpful. 

Preparation  necessary 

After  such  general  training  as  would  be  prerequisite  to  work 

with  any  of  the  social  legislation  agencies  must  come  a  certain 


558  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

amount  of  specialization.  In  preparing  for  work  in  labor 
legislation  post-graduate  work  in  a  university  is  desirable. 
Wisconsin  and  Columbia  Universities  have  inspired  in  many 
students  a  desire  to  take  part  in  solving  the  labor  problem. 
In  addition  there  are  many  schools  and  universities  giving 
courses  in  labor  legislation  of  which  perhaps  the  New  School 
of  Social  Research  in  New  York  bears  special  mention.  For 
those  who  can,  a  year  in  the  London  School  of  Economics 
under  Beatrice  and  Sidney  Webb  would  be  well  worth  the 
eflFort,  giving  as  it  does  an  outlook  on  the  labor  problems  of 
the  Old  Country. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunities  for  recognition  in  the  field  of  labor  legis- 
lation are  unlimited  for  the  woman  who  has  the  initiative  to 
make  her  own  job;  for  the  hack  worker  there  is  no  opening. 
To  a  lesser  degree  the  remimeration  is  responsive  to  the  tal- 
ent of  the  worker.  The  girl  who  chooses  joy  in  her  work 
must  necessarily  sacrifice  the  highest  monetary  rewards.  As 
jobs  for  women  go,  however,  the  work  of  the  specialist  in  la- 
bor legislation  is  well  paid — better  than  the  teacher  and  better 
than  the  average  secretary.  With  increasing  recognition  of 
the  labor  problem  it  is  probable  that  the  expert  service  of 
women  in  the  field  of  labor  legislation  will  win  even  greater 
financial  rewards. 

Financial  return  —  Advantages 

Money  never  drew  a  worker  into  labor  legislation.  It  is  the 
appeal  of  tackling  social  reform  by  a  method  which  is  funda- 
mental, the  method  of  modifying  the  law  by  which  the  in- 
dustrial community  must  abide.  It  is  the  appeal  of  creative 
work.  Who  would  not  feel  the  satisfaction  of  investigating 
industrial  evils,  drafting  corrective  legislation,  and  guiding 
it  through  the  legislature  to  enactment?  Incidentally  there  is 
the  appeal  of  keeping  in  contact  with  current  industrial  liter- 
ature, with  statesmen  and  with  the  live  developments  of  the 


SPECIALIST  IN  LABOR  LEGISLATION       559 

day.  The  work  appeals  for  its  bigness.  It  looks  far  into  the 
future,  it  affects  State  and  national  policy.  Would  one 
exchange  for  better  pay  the  satisfaction  of  having  moved  na- 
tional legislation  one  step  in  the  direction  of  social  progress? 
Surely  no  one  who  has  experienced  that  satisfaction. 

Reading 

"Principles  of  Labor  Legislation"  —  J.  R.  Commons  and 

J.  B.  Andrews.  Macmillan. 
"History  of  Labor  in  the  United  States"  —  J.  R.  Commons 

and  associates.  Harper. 
"Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society"  — 

J.  R.  Commons,  ed.  Clark. 
"Report  of  United  States  Commission  on  Industrial  Rela- 
tions." 
"The  Attitude  of  American  Courts  in  Labor  Cases"  —  G.  G. 

Groat.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 
"Labor  Laws  and  their  Enforcement"  —  Susan  Kingsbury, 

ed.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 
"Industrial  Democracy"  —  S.  and  B.  Webb.    Longmans, 

Green  &  Co. 
"The  History  of  Trade  Unionism"  — S.   and  B.  Webb. 

Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 
"American  Labor  Legislation  Review,"  published  quarterly 

by  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation. 


STATISTICAL  WORK 
THE  STATISTICIAN 

LUCILE  EA\^S 

Director,  Research  Department,  WomerCs  Edticaiional  and  Industrial  Union 

Description  of  occupation  —  Definition 

A  STATISTICIAN  is  a  person  skilled  in  the  orderly  and  effective 
presentation  of  large  masses  of  facts.  ^  Her  services  are  re- 
quired in  many  fields  of  research :  the  biologists  must  have  a 
statistical  basis  for  their  investigations  of  problems  of  evolu- 
tion or  heredity;  nutrition  laboratories  engaged  in  studies  of 
the  means  by  which  food  is  converted  into  energy  or  living 
tissues  find  computing  departments  indispensable;  the  as- 
tronomers and  physicists  make  extensive  use  of  statistical 
methods  of  handling  their  data;  the  social  sciences  require  the 
services  of  statisticians  whenever  efforts  are  made  to  present 
in  a  systematic  way,  or  to  discover  the  significance  of,  facts 
connected  with  large  numbers  of  persons. 

Training  necessary 

Great  variations  in  the  training  required  as  well  as  a  wide 
range  in  the  fields  of  employment  are  characteristic  of  this 
vocation.  A  bright  girl  with  a  secondary  school  or  business 
college  training  can  learn  to  do  the  work  of  a  statistical  clerk 
or  enumerator.  She  should  have  a  natural  liking  for  mathe- 
matics and  should  be  very  accurate  and  orderly  in  all  her 
mental  habits.  Insurance  companies,  the  financial  depart- 
ments of  large  business  establishments,  and  the  State  and 
Federal  bureaus  of  vital  statistics  employ  many  such  statisti- 

^  Among  the  definitions  of  statistics  are:  "the  science  of  counting,"  "the 
science  of  large  numbers,"  "the  science  of  averages,"  "numerical  statement 
of  facts  in  any  department  of  inquiry,"  "quantitative  data  affected  by  a 
multiplicity  of  causes."  (Secrist,  Horace,  An  Introduction  to  Statistical  Meth- 
ods, 7-9;  King,  WUlford  I.,  The  Elements  of  Statistics,  20-23;  Bowley,  A.  L., 
Elements  of  Statistics,  3-5.) 


THE  STATISTICIAN  561 

cal  clerks  at  salaries  somewhat  higher  than  those  usually  paid 
to  stenographers  or  secretaries.  Ability  in  operating  various 
computing  and  tabulating  machines  increases  the  usefulness 
of  persons  employed  in  handling  statistical  data.  Women 
with  limited  training  must  expect  to  serve  as  assistants  and 
cannot  hope  to  undertake  any  but  the  more  mechanical  parts 
of  the  work  necessary  for  the  investigation  of  social  or  busi- 
ness problems. 

Thorough  training  and  special  fitness  for  the  work  are  re- 
quired for  persons  who  wish  to  undertake  the  more  interesting 
tasks  of  planning  statistical  investigations  and  of  preparing 
reports  of  their  results.  Several  years  of  graduate  training  in 
the  special  field  of  investigation  or  extensive  business  experi- 
ence are  necessary  to  familiarize  the  investigator  with  what 
has  been  accomplished  by  other  students  and  to  acquaint  her 
with  the  subjects  about  which  further  information  is  desirable. 
This  thorough  general  knowledge  of  the  science  to  which  it  is 
proposed  to  make  new  contributions  must  be  supplemented 
by  familiarity  with  the  rules  which  govern  statistical  research. 
Thus  the  investigator  of  labor  topics  needs  a  knowledge  of 
economic  history  and  theory  and  must  also  be  trained  in  the 
technique  of  statistics;  the  biological  investigator  must  com- 
bine a  thorough  study  of  the  natural  sciences  with  a  command 
of  statistical  methods;  a  knowledge  of  poHtical  science  or  of 
modern  public  health  activities  is  necessary  for  the  intelligent 
handling  of  vital  statistics.  Training  alone  will  not  produce 
the  highest  types  of  statisticians;  a  mental  grasp  of  the  rela- 
tions between  large  groups  of  facts,  originality  in  interpreting 
their  meaning,  and  literary  ability  which  will  make  possible 
their  clear  and  forceful  presentation  are  rarely  attained  with- 
out a  certain  inborn  fitness  for  these  higher  mental  activities. 

Where  training  may  be  obtained 

Graduate  students  are  given  some  guidance  in  statistical 
research  in  many  of  the  larger  universities.  The  New  School 
of  Social  Research  in  New  York  trains  students  for  such  work, 


562  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

and  the  Research  Department  of  the  Women's  Educational 
and  Industrial  Union  of  Boston  offers  a  professional  research 
course  for  women.  University  graduates  who  cannot  obtain 
special  training  may  leam  methods  of  statistical  investigation 
by  studying  the  publications  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  of  the  American  and  foreign  statistical  so- 
cieties, and  of  the  numerous  public  health,  engineering,  and 
business  periodicals  which  contain  articles  presenting  the 
results  of  statistical  studies  of  special  problems. 

Financial  return 

The  compensation  of  statisticians  varies  with  training  and 
ability.  Statistical  clerks  earn  from  $800  to  $1500.  Women 
who  are  capable  of  planning  an  investigation  and  of  writing 
the  report  easily  command  salaries  of  $1500  to  $2000,  and 
when  their  work  becomes  better  known,  they  may  earn 
$2500.  The  demand  for  the  services  of  statisticians  is  increas- 
ing rapidly,  as  it  is  becoming  common  for  large  business 
houses  to  maintain  research  departments,  and  modem  legis- 
lative or  social  betterment  activities  are  accompanied  fre- 
quently with  careful  statistical  studies  of  the  phenomena  with 
which  they  deal. 

Suggested  reading 

"Statistics"  —  W.  B.  Bailey  and  John  Cummings.  McClurg 
&  Co.  Chicago,  1917. 

"Elements  of  Statistics"  — -  A.  L.  Bowley.   London,  1907. 

"The  Nature  and  Purpose  of  the  Measurement  of  Social 
Phenomena."  —  A.  L.  Bowley.  London,  1915. 

"Graphic  Methods  for  Presenting  Facts"  —  W.  C.  Brinton. 
New  York,  1914. 

"Business  Statistics"  —  Melvin  T.  Copeland.  Harvard  Uni- 
versity Press.    Cambridge,  1917. 

"The  Elements  of  Statistical  Method"  --  W.  I.  King.  New 
York,  1914. 

"An  Introduction  to  Statistical  Methods"  —  H.  Secrist. 
New  York,  1917. 


VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 
THE  VOCATIONAL  ADVISOR  IN  COLLEGES 

CATHERINE  FILENE 

Vocational  Advisor,  Wheaton  College:  Chairman  Information  Committee 
New  England  Vocational  Guidance  Association 

Description  of  occupation 

The  occupation  of  vocational  counselor  in  colleges  is  as  broad 
as  the  ability  of  the  counselor  permits.  The  advisor  ob- 
tains information  from  all  available  sources  regarding  oppor- 
timities  for  a  life-career  and  keeps  a  record  of  the  students 
whom  she  advises  so  that  they  can  be  reached  when  infor- 
mation is  at  hand  which  bears  on  their  interests.  New 
sources  must  be  continually  looked  for  and  new  contacts  made 
with  schools,  industries,  and  those  who  are  associated  with 
all  forms  of  business  enterprises  as  well  as  social  service 
activities.  Information  is  collected  regarding  the  occupa- 
tions, preparation  necessary,  qualifications  desirable  for  suc- 
cess, financial  return  and  advantages  and  disadvantages. 
This  information  is  for  the  use  of  those  who  are  about  to 
choose  a  career  or  those  who  have  become  dissatisfied  with 
the  work  in  which  they  are  engaged.  The  advisor  suggests 
careers  for  women  and  also  courses  which  are  desirable  as 
a  foundation  and  background  for  the  different  occupations. 
She  holds  conferences  with  students  to  discuss  their  future 
work  and  she  often  addresses  groups. 

The  advisor  also  plans  meetings  at  which  people  active 
in  various  work  address  the  students.  Round-table  confer- 
ences are  often  arranged  so  that  students  may  meet  infor- 
mally with  men  and  women  who  are  authorities  in  their 
particular  lines  of  activity. 

The  deans  in  some  colleges  assume  the  duties  of  an  advisor. 


564i  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

The  vocational  advisor  either  devotes  her  entire  time  to  one 
college  or  has  two  or  three  colleges  to  which  she  gives  her  serv- 
ices. She  is  in  contact  with  such  organizations  as  the  Bureau 
of  Vocational  Information  and  the  Intercollegiate  Vocational 
Guidance  Association. 

Preparation  necessary 

A  BROAD,  general  education  is  a  necessity.  A  high-school  and 
college  training  plus  graduate  work  is  desirable.  The  advisor 
should  have  employment  experience  in  order  to  understand 
the  qualifications  which  the  employer  expects  for  various 
types  of  workers.  Undergraduate  courses  recommended  are: 
economics,  sociology,  psychology,  education,  law,  and  social 
ethics.  There  are  courses  given  for  vocational  advisors  at 
Harvard  University,  Columbia  University,  and  some  state 
universities.  Further  information  regarding  these  courses  can 
be  obtained  from  the  Vocation  Bureau  at  Harvard  University. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  opportunity  for  advancement  is  rather  indefinite  as  the 
field  is,  comparatively,  a  new  one.  Being  in  contact  with 
new  vocations,  the  advisor  is  constantly  informed  of  work  for 
which  she  herself  may  qualify. 

Financial  return 

The  financial  return  differs  according  to  the  position  held. 

The  salary  varies  from  $1200  to  $3000  a  year. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

It  is  necessary  to  have  a  sincere  interest  in  people  and  their 
activities.  One  should  have  keen  judgment,  tact,  a  student's 
attitude  toward  her  work,  abihty  in  addressing  groups,  and 
a  pleasing  personality. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

The  advantages  are  contacts  with  people  engaged  in  all  kinds 

of  activities.    The  work  is  not  confining,  but  as  a  rule  the 


VOCATIONAL  ADVISOR  IN  COLLEGES       565 

hours  are  not  definite.  Each  person  with  whom  the  advisor 
meets  represents  a  new  problem  so  that  the  work  is  always 
interesting  and  never  becomes  dull. 

The  occupation  being  a  new  one,  one  meets  the  obstacles 
which  confront  all  pioneers. 

Supply  and  demand 

With  the  increased  realization  of  the  value  of  the  work  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  supply  of  adequate  advisors  will  be  less 
than  demand.  The  best  way  to  secure  such  a  position  is  to 
get  into  direct  communication  with  the  heads  of  the  college 
in  which  one  wishes  employment. 

Reading 

"Women  and  Work"  —  Helen  M.  Bennett. 

"The  Vocational  Guidance  Movement'*  —  John  M.  Brewer. 

"Readings  on  Vocational  Education"  —  Meyer  Bloomfield. 

"Democracy  and  Education"  —  Dewey. 

"Learning  to  Earn"  —  Lappe  and  Mote. 

"Beginnings  in  Industrial  Education"  —  Hanus. 

"Industrial  Education"  —  Leake. 

"The  Law  as  a  Vocation"  —  Allen. 

"Women's  Employment,"  a  bi-monthly  paper  published  by 
the  Women's  Employment  Publishing  Company,  Lon- 
don, England. 

"  Vocational  Education  "  —  Snedden. 


THE  VOCATIONAL  ADVISOR  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

JANE  L.  FOX 

Vocational  Advisor^  Grammar  and  High  Schools,  Long  Beachy  California 

Description  of  occupation 

Vocational  guidance  in  the  schools  is  a  service  arising  from 
the  modern  desire  for  efficiency,  not  only  in  industry,  but  in 
education.   The  governing  motive  in  education  is  no  longer 


566  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

mere  culture;  it  is  service.  It  is  still  a  matter  of  self -develop- 
ment, but  not  for  selfish  pleasure  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
refinements  of  life;  it  is,  instead,  an  attempt  to  develop  one's 
talents  and  capacities  so  that  one  can  do  his  proper  share 
in  the  work  of  the  world  and  contribute  toward  the  prog- 
ress of  society.  To  help  young  people  to  know  something 
of  vocations,  to  discover  their  own  talents  and  capacities,  to 
realize  their  opportunities,  to  decide  on  their  future  work,  and 
to  plan  their  education  wisely  are  the  main  problems  of  the 
vocational  advisor.  In  some  schools  vocational  guidance  is 
administered  through  a  "life-career"  class,  with  such  a  book 
as  "Occupations,"  by  Gowin  and  Wheatley,  or  "Vocational 
Civics,"  by  Giles,  as  the  text.  The  guiding  may  be  done  by 
the  vice-principal,  the  teachers  of  civics  or  of  English,  a  voca- 
tional advisor,  or  a  vocational  committee.  Perhaps  the  work 
can  be  done  best  by  a  vocational  director  on  full  time,  who 
confers  with  pupils,  parents,  and  the  other  teachers  concern- 
ing the  welfare  of  the  pupils  to  be  guided;  who  supervises  some 
sort  of  vocational  guidance  through  class- work;  who  collects 
and  promulgates  information  concerning  conditions  in  vari- 
ous kinds  of  work;  who  helps  to  keep  the  curriculum  well- 
balanced  and  efficient;  who  gets  together  files,  and  makes  use 
of  numerous  records  of  interests,  achievement,  character, 
health,  intelligence,  experience,  reading,  and  plans  of  pupils; 
and  who  points  the  way  to  satisfactory  work  or  further  prep- 
aration and  training. 

Preparation  and  training  necessary 

The  general  point  of  view  obtained  through  college  education 
plus  observation  and  experimentation  is  a  better  equipment 
for  a  vocational  advisor  than  actual  experience  in  some  kind 
of  work  or  even  in  several  occupations.  It  is  a  rare  person 
who  is  not  somewhat  narrowed  by  technical  education  or 
technical  teaching;  and  genuine  experience  that  would  be  ex- 
tensive enough  to  broaden  the  view  would  take  such  a  length 
of  time  as  to  be  impracticable  for  the  prospective  voca- 


VOCATIONAL  ADVISOR  IN  SCHOOLS       567 

tional  advisor.  College  subjects  that  would  help  directly  are 
psychology,  economics,  sociology,  and  education,  in  their  vari- 
ous phases.  Contact  with  young  people  as  a  social  worker  or 
in  a  practice  school  will  show  the  college  student  some  of  the 
avenues  of  approach  and  some  of  the  information  needed  for 
vocational  guidance.  Courses  in  vocational  guidance  are 
offered  in  the  departments  of  education  in  a  limited  number 
of  colleges  during  their  regular  sessions,  and  many  more  offer 
such  courses  during  the  summer  sessions,  which  are  intended 
for  teachers  particularly.  Normal  schools  are,  of  course,  in- 
structing their  students  in  vocational  and  educational  guid- 
ance. Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University  and  Harvard 
University  list  in  their  catalogues  regular  courses  in  voca- 
tional guidance. 

Opportunity  for  advancement 

The  teacher  who  starts  out  in  a  small  way  to  introduce  voca- 
tional topics  and  advising  in  her  class-work  in  an  academic  or 
vocational  subject  may  specialize  to  such  an  extent  that  she 
will  be  allowed  part  or  full  time  to  devote  to  the  organization 
and  administering  of  vocational  guidance  in  the  high  school 
or  even  the  city  school  system.  She  may  have  opportunities 
to  become  an  employment  manager  in  a  commercial  or  indus- 
trial plant.  This  sort  of  job  would  probably  mean  an  advance- 
ment in  salary,  but  a  narrowing  and  a  specialization  in  work, 
since  it  would  demand  an  expert  knowledge  of  one  industry. 
If  the  vocational  advisor  works  in  a  high  school,  she  will  re- 
ceive the  regular  salary  of  a  head  of  department  if  her  efforts 
bring  results  sufficiently  important.  If  she  has  more  extended 
duties  throughout  the  school  system,  she  will  probably  be 
considered  worthy  of  the  pay  accorded  a  supervisor. 

Advantages  and  disadvantages 

This  occupation  has  the  advantage  of  all  social  work  in  that 
it  deals  with  problems  of  vital  importance.  However,  it  is 
often  most  disheartening  because  of  adverse  conditions  and 


568  CAREERS  FOR  WOMEN 

neglect  of  opportunities.  It  is  wonderfully  constructive  and 
broad  in  its  scope;  but  it  is  necessary  to  proceed  largely  on 
faith,  for  youth  is  naturally  ungrateful  and  results  are  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain,  especially  after  the  youth  has  entered  his 
life-work.  Vocational  advising  is  mainly  an  office  job,  in- 
volving endless  confidences,  research  work,  filing  of  statistics, 
correspondence,  and  counsel.  The  only  relief  from  office 
work  is  reading  and  contact  with  workers  in  as  diversified  a 
number  of  occupations  as  one  can  investigate.  A  disad- 
vantage that  any  ex-classroom  teacher  will  feel  is  the  ten- 
dency to  regard  young  people  as  "cases"  that  are  studied 
occasionally  instead  of  young  friends  met  daily  in  the  class- 
room. On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  chance  for  monotony  in 
the  day's  or  year's  work  of  a  vocational  advisor.  The  writer 
has  had  no  regret  over  changing  from  the  job  of  an  Eng- 
lish teacher  to  that  of  vocational  and  educational  advisor. 

Qualifications  desirable  for  success 

The  person  who  undertakes  to  guide  young  people  in  their 
education  and  life-careers  should  be  open-minded  yet  con- 
servative, sympathetic  yet  sensible,  analytical  yet  human, 
capable  of  handling  infinite  detail  yet  discriminating  in  a 
grasp  of  essentials  and  main  issues,  personal  yet  altruistic; 
in  short,  intelligent  and  sensible. 

Extent  of  the  occupation 

The  work  is  so  new  that  statistics  as  to  its  extent  are  not 
available.  Judging  by  published  statements  and  articles,  it 
has  been  introduced  scatteringly  all  the  way  from  Boston  to 
Los  Angeles.  In  California  some  seventy-five  high  schools 
have  teachers  who  are  devoting  a  part  or  all  of  their  time  to 
the  work  of  vocational  advising.  This  number  will  be  greatly 
increased  in  the  school-year  1920-21,  when  a  new  compulsory 
part-time  law  goes  into  effect,  for  this  law  specifies  that  vo- 
cational and  social  guidance  shall  be  administered  to  all 
persons  under  eighteen  who  come  under  the  law.   Undoubt- 


VOCATIONAL  ADVISOR  IN  SCHOOLS        569 

edly  the  demand  throughout  the  United  States  for  vocational 
advisors  will  increase  steadily  for  some  years  to  come. 

Suggested  reading 

A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  of  vocatioual  information  would  be  too  ex- 
tensive for  the  present  article,  but  a  few  titles  can  be  given 
which  will  supply  reading-matter  for  one  interested  in  finding 
out  about  vocational  guidance  as  an  occupation. 

"The  Vocational  Guidance  Movement"  —  John  M.  Brewer. 
Macmillan,  1918. 

"Readings  in  Vocational  Guidance"  —  Meyer  Bloomfield. 
Ginn,  1915. 

"Vocational  and  Moral  Guidance"  —  Jessie  B.  Davis.  Ginn, 
1914. 

"Vocational  Civics"  —  F.  M.  and  I.  K.  Giles.  Macmillan, 
1919. 

"Occupations"  —  Gowin  and  Wheatley.  Ginn,  1916. 

"Vocational  Information."  Leland  Stanford  Junior  Univer- 
sity Bulletin,  1918. 

Bibliographies  will  be  found  in  these  books  and  in  "A 
Selected  Critical  BibHography  of  Vocational  Guidance,"  by 
John  M.  Brewer  and  Roy  M.  Kelly,  Harvard  University 
Press,  1917.  Some  interesting  bulletins  published  by  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  at  Washington,  are  Numbers  14,  19, 
and  24,  entitled  "Vocational  Guidance,"  "Vocational  Guid- 
ance in  High  Schools,"  and  "Vocational  Guidance  and  the 
Public  Schools,"  respectively. 


INDEX 


Accountant,  92,  107,  263. 

Acting.  118,  335. 

Administrative  positions  in  home  eco- 
nomics, 231. 

Advertising,  7  fl.,  19,  61,  82,  90,  319. 

Advertising  agency  service,  12  flf. 

Advertising  manager,  7  fl.,  90,  91. 

Advisor,  financial,  154,  155. 

Advisors  of  women,  138. 

Agricultural  journals,  29,  34. 

Agriculture,  45,  630. 

American  Association  of  College  Regis- 
trars, 146. 

American  Association  for  Labor  Legis- 
lation, 557. 

American  Association  for  Organizing 
Family  Social  Work,  478. 

American  Conference  of  Pharmaceuti- 
cal Faculties,  428. 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  537. 

American  Institute  of  Accountancy,  1. 

American  Library  Annual,  304. 

American  Library  Schools,  Associa- 
tion of,  304. 

American  Medical  Association,  200, 
206. 

American  Psychological  Association, 
472,  540. 

American  Social  Hygiene  Association, 
557. 

American  Society  of  Miniatiu*e  Paint- 
ers, 71. 

Americanization,  252,  529. 

Anti-tuberculosis  work,  630. 

Architect,  47  flf.,  78. 

Architect,  landscape,  35,  50  flf. 

Architecture,  journals  on  landscape,  36. 

Architecture  and  Landscape  Design, 
Cambridge  School  of,  35,  49,  53. 

Architecture,  readings  on  landscape, 
55,  56. 

Artist,  7, 48,  70,  91, 160;  botanical,  160; 
commercial,  91. 

Arts  and  crafts,  57  ff.,  178. 

Art  schools,  76. 

Art  Students*  League,  70. 

Assistant  buyer,  87  f . 

Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the 
World,  10. 

Association  of  American  Medical  Col- 
leges, 206. 

Association  for  Improving  the  Con- 
dition of  the  Poor  in  New  York  City, 
240. 


Astronomer,  560. 
Attendance  ofiBlcer,  525. 
Attorney,  prosecuting,  285  fl. 
Auditors,  2. 

Baby  Hygiene  Association,  163,  164. 
Baby  hygiene  work,  readings  on,  166. 
Baby  hygiene  worker,  163  fl. 
Bacteriologist,  410  fl.;  courses  for  the, 

411;  readings  on  the,  413. 
Bacteriological  technician,  169. 
Banking,  92. 
Bank  pubUcity,  14  fl. 
Behaviorist,  461  fl. 
Beekeeper,  24  fl. 

Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  167. 
Binding.  62. 
Binet  tests,  472. 
Biologist,  sanitary,  159. 
Blind,  teacher  of  the,  126  flf. 
Bond  saleswoman,  152  fl. 
Bookkeeping,  92. 
Book  publishing,  82  fl. 
Book  reviewer,  311  fl. 
Bookselling,  83. 
Boston  Museum  of  Phie  Arts,  69,  70, 

76,  78. 
Boston  Psychopathic  Hospital,  517. 
BralUe,  128. 

Brotherhood  of  Railway  Clerks,  109. 
Budget  consultant,  252. 
Bureau  of  Entomology,  26. 
Bureau    of    Pageantry    and    Drama, 

Y.W.C.A.,  New  York  City,  112. 
Bureau  of  Vocational  Information,  564. 
Business,  82  ff. 
Buyer,  87  f.,  91,  96,  98,  105  fl.,  212, 

242;  assistant,  87  fl. 

Cafeteria  management,  readings  on, 

213. 
Cafeteria  manager,  209  fl. 
Camera  operation,  336. 
Camp  direction,  readings  on,  87. 
Camp  director,  85  fl. 
Camp-Fire  Girl  leaders,  465  fl. ;  courses 

for,  466,  467. 
Canning  and  preserving,  214. 
Case  supervisor,  479. 
Case  work,  479,  497,  512,  513,  629; 

family,  529;  social,  529, 
Cashier,  96.  108. 
Chemist,  108;  industrial,  432;  paper, 

423  fl.;  research,  425. 


572 


INDEX 


Child  hygiene  worker,  166  fl.,  520. 

Child  specialist  or  behaviorist,  461  flf. 

Cliild  Welfare,  46,  159,  163,  529. 

Children's  librarian,  294  ff.;  readings 
on,  297,  298. 

Christian  workers,  401. 

Ciiurch  visiting,  529. 

Clerk,  96. 

Clerk,  editorial,  160. 

Clinical  psychologist,  471  flf.,  539  flf. 

Clinician,  471,  539  flf.,  542,  643. 

Clothing  center  direction,  223. 

Clothing  designers,  248. 

Clothing  specialist,  252. 

Club  work,  529. 

Commercial  artist,  91. 

Community  center  worker,  474,  629, 
535. 

Commimlty  field  workers,  264. 

Community  health  visitors,  171. 

Community  organizer,  111. 

Community  song  leading,  530. 

Comparison  oflQce  head,  89  f. 

Composer,  342  flf. 

Comptometer  operator,  108. 

Consultant  in  labor  management, 
381  flf. 

Consulting  psychologist,  473. 

Continuation-school  teacher,  129;  read- 
ings on  the,  133,  134. 

Cookery,  210. 

Copy-reader,  327. 

Copy- writer,  7  flf.,  13,  90,  91. 

Coroner,  273  f. 

Corporation  lawyer,  274  flf. 

Correction,  commissioner  of,  513. 

Correspondence,  supervisor  of,  83. 

Cottage  manager,  266. 

County  superintendent,  148. 

Court  psychologist,  439. 

Court  stenographer,  455  flf. 

Crafts,  55  flf.,  178. 

Critic,  dramatic,  348  flf. 

Dairy  work,  27  flf. 

Dean  of  women,  134  flf.,  142,  143; 
readings  on  the,  138. 

Delinquents,  readings  on  work  with, 
549. 

Dental  hygienist,  159. 

Department  store  occupations,  87, 

Deputy  police  commissioner,  613. 

Dermatologist,  169  flf. 

Designing,  57  flf.,  79,  82. 

Detective,  96,  97. 

Dietetic  Bureau,  Boston,  240. 

Dietetics,  schools  giving  training  in, 
220   239. 

Dietitian,  159,  163,  164,  165,  217  flf., 
238  f,  265,  529;  visiting,  529. 

Direct  color  photography,  60  ft. ;  read- 
ings on,  63. 


District  nurse,  171  flf.,  633. 

District  Niu-se  Associations,  164,  172. 

District  secretary,  479. 

Division  manager,  88. 

Docent,  341 . 

Doctor,  202,  498  (see  Medical  Work, 

Physician). 
Domestic  science,  93,  210,  521. 
Draftsman,  47,  54,  108,  159. 
Dramatics,  111  flf.,  115,  348  flf.,  530. 
Dramatic  critic,  348  flf. 
Dramatic  producer.  111. 
Drug-grower,  33  flf. 

Economic  research,  551. 

Editor,  82,  190,  314   flf.,  351    flP.,  359, 

363  flf.;  feature,  351  flf.;  magazme, 

323  flf.;  motion-picture,  363;  special 

page,  352;  Sunday,  362  flf. 
Education,  50,  94,  232,  251,  254,  264, 

317  flf.,  368,  372  flf. 
Educational  department  (institution), 

264;     (publishing    house),   317    flf.; 

(store),  94. 
Educational  director,  367  flf. 
Educational  directors,  schools  for,  368. 
Educational  publishing  houses,  321  flf. 
Educational  work  in  stores,  readings 

on,  372,  373. 
Electrical  engineering,  282. 
Elementary-school  teacher,  119,  120; 

readings  on,  120,  121. 
Employment,  83,  95,  96,  373  flf.,  520. 
Employment  agent,  junior,  375  flf. 
Employment  manager,  95,  96,  373  flf. 
Employment  management,  books  on, 

375;  courses  on,  374. 
Employment  oflQce  work,  95. 
Engineering,  electrical,  283. 
Engineering,  mechanical,  282. 
Engraving,  82. 
Eugenics,  530. 
Executive  secretary,  557. 
Executives,  institutional,  263  flf. 
Extension  work,  45,  226  flf. 

Factory  inspection,  readings  on,  260. 
Factory  inspector,  255  flf.,  530. 
Family  case  work,  529. 
Family  social   work,  478  flf.;   courses 

on,  481 ;  readmgs  on,  483,  484. 
Farm  manager,  45. 
Farm  superintendent,  265. 
Farm  teacher,  512. 
Featiu*e  editor,  351  flf. 
Federal  workers  (home economics),  237. 
Feeble-minded,  readings  on  the,  546, 

546.   . 
Field  organizers,  488,  657. 
Field  workers,  264. 
Finance,  529. 
Financial  advisor,  154,  165. 


INDEX 


573 


Florist,  45. 

Food  conserver,  265. 

Food  service  directing,  246. 

Foreign  missionary,  523. 

Foreign  resident  representative,  98  flf. 

Foreign  reporting  representatives,  100. 

Foreign  sales  managers,  98. 

Foreign  selling,  100. 

Foreign  trade,  readings  on,  552,  553. 

Foreign  trade  research  workers,  550  fl. 

Forewomen,  248. 

Gardener,  43  flf.,  265. 

Garden  photographer,  63  flP. 

Garden  photography,  readings  on,  66. 

Genealogist,  553. 

General  secretary,  of  a  city  Y.W.C.A., 

399  flf. 
Geologist,  413  flf. 
Geologists,  courses  for,  416. 
Girl  Scout  leaders,  486  flf. 
Girls'  club  work,  readings  on,  486. 
Girls'  club  worker,  484  flf.,  529. 
Government  work,  28,  39,  158  fit. 
Graphic  arts,  19. 
Gynaecological  surgery,  199. 

Head  of  stock,  88. 

Health  instructor  in  foods,  232  flf. 

Health  services,  163  flf.,  232  fit. 

Health  supervisor,  167. 

Health  visitors,  171. 

Health  work,  172. 

Herdswoman,  265. 

High-school  principal,  138  flf. 

Historian,  539,  554. 

Home  demonstration   agent,   226  flf., 

235  flf.;  colleges  giving  training  for, 

228,  236;  readings  on,  229. 
Home  economics,  226  flf.,  230,  233,  252, 

459,   530;  extension  work  in,   230; 

readings  on,  234,  235. 
Home  Gardens,  supervisor  of,  43  flf. 
Home-making  advisor,  252, 
Horticulture,  45  flf.,  51,  215,  265. 
Horticultiu^  for  Women,   School  of, 

215. 
Hospital  administrators,  497,  498. 
Hospital  social  service,  readings  on, 

499. 
Hospital  social  workers,  492  flf. 
Hostess,  261. 

Household  eflQciency  expert,  252. 
Housekeeping,  211  f.,  246,  251. 
House-mother,  266,  512. 
Housing  work,  529. 

Illustrative  advertising,  61. 
Illustrator,  7,  61. 
Immigrants,  work  with,  536. 
Industrial  chemist,  423. 
Industrial  librarian,  298  fl. 


Industrial  nurse,  175. 

Industrial   safety   and  welfare   work, 

258. 
Industrial    work,    175,    255    flf.,    492, 

530. 
Institution  executives,  263. 
Institutional  management,  245,  263  flf., 

268,  512. 
Institutional  work,  221,  231,  261  flf., 

630. 
Insurance,  270  flf. 
Insurance  sales  manager,  271. 
Intercollegiate    Vocational    Guidance 

association,  564. 
Interior  decoration,  readings  on,  68. 
Interior  decorator,  66  flf. 
Intemeship,  200. 
Investigation,  12,  96,  256,  514,  546. 

Jeweler,  68  f . 

JoumaUsm,  19,  40,  232,  324,  355. 

Joiunalists,  rural,  40. 

Junior  counselor,  376. 

Junior    employment    agent,    375    flf., 

readings  on  the,  380,  381. 
Junior     home     economics     extension 

leader,  231. 

Keepers  of  stock,  265. 
Kindergartner,  121   flf.;    readings    on 

the,  125,  126. 
Kindergarten  training  schools,  123. 

Laboratory  assistants,  108. 
Labor  legislation,  readings  on,  559. 
Labor  Legislation  Specialist,  556. 
Labor    management,    consultant    on, 

381  flf.;  readings  on,  384,  385. 
Landscape  architect,  35,  50  ft. 
Landscape  architecture  journals,  36. 
Landscape  architecture,  readings  on, 

55,  56. 
Landscape  gardener,  34  flf. 
Law,  273  flf.,  286,  288,  510. 
Law  schools,  286. 
Legal  editor,  276  f . 
Legal  research,  289. 
Legal  work,  276  f.,  520. 
Legislative  work,  529. 
Librarian,  children's,  294  fl. ;  industrial, 

298;  medical,  .308  ft. 
Libraries,  medical,  308  f . 
Library  journals,  302,  310. 
Library  schools,  294,   295,   299,   305, 

308. 
Library  Work,  147,  160,  293  fl.,  298, 

301,  302  fl.,  308;  readings  on,  297, 

298,  306,  307. 
Library  workers,  special,  301. 
Life  insurance  agent,  270  fl. 
Literary  work,  311  fl. 
Lobbyist,  557. 


574 


INDEX 


Magazine  editor,  323  flf. 

Magistrate,  278  ff. 

Matron,  513,  530. 

Matron  In  a  detention  home  for  girls, 

470,  471. 
Mechanical  engineering,  2S2. 
Medical  diagnosis,  200,  201. 
Medical  education,  council  of,  200,  206. 
Medical  librarian,  308  fif. 
Medical  libraries,  309. 
Medical  Library  Association,  309. 
Medical  missionaries,  401. 
Medical  research  worker,  419  fl. 
Medical  schools,  206. 
Medical  social  case  workers,  493. 
Medical  social  service  nurse,  175. 
Medical  social  service,  readings  on,  499. 
Medical  social  work,  493,  529. 
Medicine,  175,  200,  201,  206,  212  fl., 

308  ff.,  401,  419  ff.,  493. 
Medicine,  preventive,  208. 
Men's  night  court.  278  ff. 
Mental  hygiene,  518,  519;  readings  on, 

464,  465,  503. 
Mental  Hygiene,  National  Committee 

for,  517. 
Mental  hygiene  worker,  499  fl. 
Merchandise  manager,  88, 
Microanalyst,  149. 
Microscopist,  159. 
Miniature  painter,  69  ff. 
Miniature  painters,  societies  of,  71. 
Miniature  painting,  readings  on,  72. 
Missionary,  401  ff.,  523. 
Missionary  schools,  402. 
Missionary  work,  readings  on,  404. 
Mother's  helper,  123. 
Motion-picture  director,  335  fl. 
Motion-picture  editor,  363. 
Miiltigrapher,  447  ff. 
Museum  dh-ector,  340  fl. 
Music,  343  ff. 
Musical  manager,  344. 
Mycologist,  435. 

National    Association    of    Boards    of 

Pharmacy,  427. 
National  Child  Labor  Committee,  557. 
National  Conference  of  Social  Work. 

268. 
National  Consumers'  Lioague,  557. 
National  Headquarters  of  Girl  Scouts, 

487. 
National  Organization  of  Public  Health 

Nursing.  174.  176. 
National  Probation  Association,  511. 
National    Training    School    for    Girl 

Scout  Leaders.  490. 
Neiu-ological     Clinic.     Massachxisetts 

General  Hospital.  517. 
Newspaper  work.  348  ff.,  361  ff. 
Newspaper  Writers'  Union  No.  1,  360. 


Nurse,  district,  171  ff.;  industrial,  175; 

medical  social  service,   175;  public 

health.    164,     167,     172,    176,    177; 

school.  174,  523;  welfare,  174. 
Nurses.    160.    163.   167,  172,  174,  175, 

176,  ff.,  265,  401,  498,  523,  531 ;  field, 

168. 
Nurseries,  46. 
Nursing,  preventive,  173. 

Occupational  therapy,  178,  529;  read- 
ings on.  179.  180;  schools  of,  179. 
Office  management,  83. 
Officer,  probation.  511. 
Opera  singer.  345. 
Ophthalmologist,  199. 
Optometrist,  180  ff. 
Organizers,  field,  557. 

Pageant  direction,  readings  on,  114. 

Pageant  director.  111  ff. 

Paleontologist.  414. 

Paper  chemist,  423  fl. 

Papt^'-mill  chemistry,  readings  on,  426. 

Parole  Commissioner.  513. 

Parole  work.  512  fl..  529. 

Patent  lawyer.  281  ff. 

Pathologist.  159,  433;  plant,  433. 

Personnel  work.  367  ff.,  630. 

Pharmacist.  427. 

Photography.  60  fl.,  69,  72  ff.,  363; 
schools  of.  73,  74. 

Physical  education.  386  ff.,  399;  read- 
ings on,  388,  389.  392;  in  private 
schools,  director  of,  389  ff . ;  in  public 
schools,  supervisor  of.  392  ff. ;  schools 
of,  387.  390. 

Physician,  200  fl.,  265,  512,  539,  645 
{see  Medicine). 

Physicist,  430,  560. 

Planning  department  (store),  92. 

Playground  work.  529. 

Playwright,  78,  115. 

Policewoman,  503  fl.,  546,  547. 

Politics,  396  ff.;  courses  In,  396;  read- 
ings on,  398, 

Portraitiu*e.  72. 

Poultry-keeper.  37  ff..  40. 

Poultry-keeping,  readings  on,  41,  42. 

Preserving  and  canning,  214  fl. 

Preserving,  readings  on.  217. 

Preventive  medicine.  208. 

Preventive  nursing,  173. 

Preventive  work  in  dietetics.  238  ff. 

Principal,  high-school,  138  ff.;  private 
school,  141  ff. 

Prison  work,  529. 

Private  school  principal,  141  ff. 

Probation  officer,  470,  509  ff.,  511,  525, 
547. 

Probation,  protective  and  reform  work, 
readings  on,  516. 


INDEX 


575 


Probation  work,  512  flP.,  529. 

Proof-Reader,  90,  327  fl. 

Proof -Reading,  82. 

Professional  services,  159. 

Professional  shopper,  102  flf. 

Professional  story-teller,  116. 

Propagandist,  531. 

Prosecuting  attorney,  285  ff. 

Protective  bureau  director,  513. 

Protective  worker,  503,  512  flf.,  613, 
529. 

Psychiatric  social  service,  readings  on, 
519,  520. 

Psychiatric  social  work,  464, 500, 516  flf., 
544;  training  courses,  518. 

Psychiatrist,  265,  500  ff.,  512,  617  flf., 
531,  542. 

Psycho-clinician,  542. 

Psychologist,  439  flf.,  441,  471,  473, 
512,  579  ff.;  clinical,  471  flf.;  consult- 
ing, 473;  court,  439;  readings  on  the, 
442,  443,  465. 

Psychology,  clinical,  441,  539,  641  i. 

Public  accountant,  1  flf. 

PubUc  health  nurse,  19,  164,  167,  172, 
173,  176,  177. 

Public  health  nursing,  readings  on,  177. 

Public  health  work.  19,  168,  169. 

Public  speaking,  19,  232. 

Public  stenographer,  452  flf. 

Publicity,  529. 

PubUcity  specialist,  16  flf. 

Publishing  house  careers,  317  flf. 

Publishing  houses,  educational,  321  flf. 

Railroad  Brotherhoods,  108. 

Railroad  service,  107  flf. 

Recording,  107. 

Reformative  work,  520  flf.,  512. 

Reformatory  manager  or  superin- 
tendent, 512. 

Registrar,  145  flf.,  531. 

Religious  work,  399  flf.,  405  flf.,  521 

Reporter,  shorthand,  455  flf. 

Reporthig,  19,  98,  100,  277,  355,  366, 
455  ff. 

Research,  61,  92,  217,  289,  419,  425, 
502,  530,  550  ff.;  economic,  551; 
genealogical,  553;  industilal,  530;  le- 
gal, 289;  medical,  419;  scientific, 
502;  social,  530. 

Research  chemist,  425. 

Research  worker,  foreign  trade,  550  flf. 

Restaurant  work,  93,  94,  225  ff.,  241. 

Retail  Research  Association,  99. 

Retail  Training,  Research  Bureau  for 
Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology  on, 
370. 

Rural  journalists,  46. 

Rural  recreation,  4. 

Rural  social  service,  45,  46. 

Rural  work,  45,  46,  631.    . 


Salesmanager,  98,  272. 

Salesperson,  88,  96,  152  ff.,  165. 

Saleswoman,  bond,  152  ff. 

Saleswoman,  security,  155. 

Sanitary  biologist,  159. 

Scenic  design.  111. 

School  garden  supervisors,  45. 

School  nurse,  174. 

School  superintendent,  148  fl. 

School  teacher,  119,  120. 

School  visiting,  523  ff. 

Scientific  research,  502. 

Scientific  services,  159. 

Scientific  work,  159,  410  fl.,  602. 

Scupltor,  75  ff. 

Sculpture,  books  on,  77. 

Secretarial  schools,  449. 

Secretarial  work,  82,  83,  93,  263,  399, 
407  ff.,  411  ff.,  479,  513,  557. 

Secretary,  business,  399;  district,  479; 
executive,  444  ff.,  513,  557;  general, 
480;  private,  448  ff.;  stenographer, 
93;  Y.W.C.A.,  407  ff. 

Security  saleswoman,  156,  156;  read- 
ings on  the,  156,  157. 

Selecter,  95,  96. 

SeUing,  98,  100,  153;  bond,  163. 

Settlement  work,  629,  632  fl. ;  readings 
on,  536. 

Settlement  worker,  social,  532  ft. 

Shopper,  102  ff. 

Shorthand  reporter,  465  fl. 

Show  manager,  349. 

Smith-Lever  Act,  226  fl. 

Social  case  work,  492  fl.,  629. 

Social  hygiene  work,  630. 

Social  psychiatry,  518. 

Social  research,  530. 

Social  science,  219. 

Social  service,  45  f.,  122,  175,  178,  202, 
238,  254,  407,  458,  461  ff.,  462,  474  f., 
478  ff.,  493  ff.,  511ff.,  612,516,618, 
522,  523,  625,  529,  530  ff.,  539,  543, 
546,  567;  preparation  for,  531,  532, 
634;  rural,  45  f.;  schools  of,  462,  474, 
475. 

Social  Settlement  worker,  532  ff. 

Social  work,  family,  478  ff.;  medical, 
494  ff.,  529;  schools  of,  494  ff. 

Social  worker,  539,  543,  546,  567. 

Social  Workers,  psychiatric,  464,  600. 

Social  workers'  hospital,  494  fl. 

Speakers,  557. 

Special  article  writer,  359  fl. 

Special  page  editor,  352. 

Specialists,  550  fl.;  in  home  econom- 
ics, 159,  231;  in  labor  legislation, 
556. 

Staff  photographer,  363. 

Stage  design,  readings  on,  80. 

Stage  designer,  78  ff. 

Stage  painters,  79. 


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